Batman Beyond: The Heir(Season 1)
by Ralyena Starrling
Summary: Set in an Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics universe, Terry is the Omega son of Bruce Wayne-Kent(Omega) and Clark Kent(Alpha). Observe Terry as he tries to prove himself worthy of the cowl he now wears and show that an Omega can be just as tough as an Alpha out there. And speaking of which, there happens to be a handsome Alpha who is the son of Hawkgirl and Green Lantern who intrigues him.
1. Tomorrow's Dark Knight Pt1

_First meeting..._

* * *

At the time, Clark Kent only saw an atypical Omega rich man as he stood behind his friend and then romantic interest Lois Lane that fateful day at Metropolis Airlines. And as he looked down the long stairway to see the mass gathering of reporters, Bruce Wayne likewise only saw a typical Alpha newsman as he fixed his eyes on those spectacles resting on the country man's nose. From first glances they didn't care much for each other. Especially when it turned into a fight over Lois's affections. Then when the men encountered each other yet again as Superman and Batman they _really_ didn't care for each other. But where they failed to team up their respective enemies Lex Luthor and Joker did, and gave both heroes a hard time. And it only got harder once Lois discovered that her billionaire dream man turned out to be the Dark Knight of their sister city Gotham. While Lois had no trouble welcoming the rich and dapper gentleman with open arms, she couldn't find herself accepting the dangerous and savage vigilante that he also was. With the Beta woman no longer a primary concern Bruce and Clark were able to see past their dislike of each other and saw that both were not the kind of people they initially they thought one another to be. Clark could now see that Bruce was not the spoiled, trust fund heartbreaking playboy he often carries himself as. And Bruce finally realized that Clark wasn't some doe-eyed farmer trying to pass off as a city guy as his plain appearance made him seem to be.

Then, after dealing with Joker and Lex, the two men went their separate ways. But they knew that wouldn't be the end of it.

* * *

 _Running into each other..._

A year after that first meeting, Clark and Bruce would continue to run into each over the next several years both in casual settings and during missions. One such mission was when Superman ventured into Gotham City after learning Bruce had vanished, then assumed his identity as Batman when he learned that Brainiac was using him to build a deluxe rocket ship and tried to kill the Omega billionaire once he was no longer needed. Then six months later Batman would return the favor and help the Alpha newsman when Ra's Al Ghul lured him into a trap to drain him of his strength when the Lazarus Pit no longer affected him. With every encounter the two had they began to respect each other more both as heroes and as people in general. Though they weren't exactly friends at the time they at least considered one another to be strong allies, whom the world dubbed as the World's Finest, and good acquaintances. By this time they were also no longer rivals over Lois, so this meant that they could open proverbial door to the possibility of an actual friendship.

However, as we all know, some relationships don't just end at the friendship level.

* * *

 _Forming the Justice League..._

The next encounter the Alpha and Omega would have both heroes collaborating on a more regular basis. Not only with each other but with several other fine heroes as well. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Flash and Hawkgirl were the first handful of brave partners they would work with. And even in the span of six years they all accomplished great feats of heroism. True they have had their hard times where members butted heads and loyalties were questioned, but through it all they stood by each other and had one another's backs. This could be especially said for Superman and Batman. By this time Clark and Bruce have officially become friends. They would see each other in their civilian mode, or civvies as Flash liked to say, as often as they saw one another in hero mode if not more frequently. And the closer they got the more that their friends, family and fellow heroes could see how the pair complimented each other. Clark's simple yet endearing country charm had softened up Bruce to the point where he wasn't as antisocial/standoffish as he usually is, while his Alpha nature was able to convince him to take a break when he should which was something the worried Alfred Pennyworth greatly appreciated. And Bruce's tough but fair personality would help Clark to be more stern when he needed to be without being unpleasant, then his Omega heritage would ease him whenever he was stressed over a report deadline or a mission that went wrong.

They always said that it was only two friends looking out for each other, any time someone tried to make something out of their relationship. And they were right. They were just two friends looking out for each other. At least...they were at the time.

* * *

 _When the Sun comforts the Night..._

When Bruce called him that night, several hours after Halloween was over and Scarecrow had unveiled his identity to the world, Clark didn't have to ask to know what he wanted. It was time for the master strategist's last ace in the hole. His ultimate contingency plan dubbed Knightfall. He silently donned his red cape and with equal quietness the Man of Steel flew towards Gotham City. The reporters surrounding the manor were so focused on the front gates that they didn't think to look up above to see him. Alfred let Superman in through an open window, telling him that Bruce was standing in front of his parent's portrait waiting for him. Before he went to meet Bruce the faithful butler asked him to promise to protect him during this hard time, and as both Superman and Clark Kent he swore that he would do so. Azrael then appeared along with Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Barbra Gordon, Bette Kane, Helena Bertinelli, Cassandra Cain, Charlie Gage-Radcliffe and Stephanie Brown. The Bat Family wanted to spend what moments they had with the aging butler they considered their grandfather before Azrael took Alfred and Ace somewhere safe. And the old Alpha was happy to oblige the ones he considered his grandchildren.

Superman let the blended family of heroes have their moment and went off to see Bruce. As he entered the main room where the portrait of the late Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne was perched just so over the fireplace he saw the man of this sad hour standing there. He was still in his bat suit sans the mask, and he was looking up at the portrait that was all he had of his parents. After the longest four minutes of his life Superman cleared his throat to get the once Dark Knight's attention. Then ever so slowly Bruce turned to face him. And what he saw left him feeling more pain than any Kryptonite could ever inflict on him. Staring back at him wasn't the stoic and strong Batman. It wasn't even the chiseled and perfect Bruce Wayne. It was a beaten, broken down and just plain tired _Omega._ Bruises from the many punches and kicks he took throughout the night were starting to form clearly on his once impeccable pale skin. The shine of the full moon that peeked into the well decorated room revealed the tens of thousands of cuts along his upper torso. And his eyes...God, his eyes. Those regal orbs of bright sapphire dulled into burnt out blue coal and the white surrounding them were now dusty rose from all of his crying.

He didn't know if he was the one who walked over to the Omega, or if the Omega walked over to him. Either way they met in the middle of the room and had a tender embrace. Bruce clung onto the extraterrestrial Alpha for dear life as he sobbed into the s-like symbol of hope. He hasn't sobbed like this since he lost his parents, or when he thought he lost Jason several years back. Clark, not Superman but Clark, allowed the once Dark Knight to let out every last salty drop of water that he has held in for so long. In between his sobbing and shouts of how he's tried so hard Clark gently rubbed his back and nuzzled the top of his head, letting his Alpha scent ease him into a state of calm. After ten minutes since he started balling it finally did the trick, and Bruce gradually regained his composure and wiped his tears and snot away. It was then that Alfred and the others all walked into the room. For what would be the last time the young members of the Bat Family shared in a rare sweet moment, giving hugs and words of farewell to the man that was not only their mentor but a father figure. Ace whimpered sadly, like he knew what was going on, as he gave his ward a few parting licks. When he turned to Azrael the Omega gave the warrior his very first cowl along with a piece of paper listing the many spare Bat Cave locations, and Azrael bowed in humble gratitude. Then finally, it was time to face Alfred. Both men looked at each other silently for a long time before they hugged each other like a parent seeing his child off and said child taking in as much supportive essence as they could before leaving. Bruce was the first to speak, saying a small 'Goodbye father' while Alfred stuttered out an emotional 'Goodbye son'.

With everything said and done, the Bat Family looked upon their home one last time before they all parted ways. Superman then took Bruce into his arms and slowly flew up into the night sky. He then absorbed every bit of heat into his eyes before shooting out the most devastating beams he could muster upon Wayne Manor, blowing it up into unrecognizable ashes without hurting any of the reporters. And as they flew away, it seemed like that was the end of the Wayne family legacy...Or was it?

* * *

 _Seen in a new light..._

For the next ten years Bruce would spend his days literally underground in the Fortress of Solitude. Clark always made sure that he had food, clothes and whatever else he needed to be comfortable. He would often apologize about what he brought not being gourmet meals or designer outfits. And Bruce would always give a tender smile, saying that there was nothing to apologize for and that he can easily adapt. He also kept himself productive by tending to the endangered otherworldly creatures in the Fortress Zoo and played with the hyper Superdog that was Krypto. And whenever he wants a change of pace from the cold temperature Diana is always happy to have him on Themyscira, as male Omegas are allowed. Clark also began to teach Bruce how to speak Kryptonese, which was by far the hardest language he's ever had to learn. Even still it was a lot of fun to immerse himself in learning about the people of Krypton, not only for the sake of gaining new knowledge but also because it brought him and Clark closer together. It was a closeness that the former vigilante found himself savoring as Clark amounted to the only family he had now that he couldn't see Dick, Alfred, Barbra or the others anymore. For so long he's lied about being able to carry on without ever acknowledging the all too human need to be surrounded by people. Now that he's what amounts to a phantom in hiding he finds that being truthful about what you want in life, and who you want in your life, is not so bad after all. And Clark made him realize that.

Now that he gets to see the Man of Steel up close Bruce is able to really see him for the kind of person he is. He discovered that Clark was so much more than the man that can do it all or the mild mannered reporter that everyone, including himself, often perceived him to be. Clark could also be very firm, stern and even ruthless when he wanted to be. It showed that while he was more tranquil and polite than most Alphas were he still had the dominant nature his secondary gender is known for. It was something that Bruce found to be very admirable...and _attractive_. Maybe it was because he hasn't had a date in such a long time or maybe it was his observant mind taking a more provocative turn, but Bruce was beginning to see why women swooned over the Man of Steel. His sun-kissed skin was perfectly flawless, his large hands were surprisingly soft as down feathers when they touched you, his eyes were as vibrantly blue as the day's sky, his teeth were like squared pearls, his dark hair was impeccably styled and of course his muscular chest was the hallmark of his physique.

Try as he might to ignore his growing feelings, the nagging whisper was steadily growing into a nagging shout. The fact that Clark was a man had nothing to do with it as Bruce has had four male sexual partners in the past. The reason why he tried to ignore them was because A, he didn't want to put Clark on the spot with a cliché confession. And B, it was obvious that the old fashioned country man wasn't even into men given his feelings for Lois. But soon events would unfold to prove Bruce wrong.

* * *

 _Heat of passion..._

It has now been fifteen years since Bruce "died" in the explosion at Wayne Manor and has been living in the Fortress of Solitude. And the two decades hadn't helped with his growing feelings for Clark. And sometimes he felt that the mild mannered report in disguise was doing certain things on purpose that stoked his fire. Like how he would do projectile evasion practice shirtless, and _just needed_ Bruce to help like Krypto isn't smart enough to know how to pull a switch when he can open the damn refrigerator to steal a sandwich not meant for him. Then he would forget to watch his six and get hit by a projectile, knowing good and well that that the RPG wouldn't leave so much as a blemish on his enviable, perfect Kryptonian hide. Sometimes Bruce wanted to be petty and throw a pencil at Clark's head even when he knew that his literal hard head wouldn't feel it anymore than someone would feel a butterfly land on their shoulder.

What really made watching Clark so hard was that he would never be able to tell him how he felt. And even though they lived in close quarters it always seemed like he was miles away from him. Then whenever Lois would call him and he put her voice on speaker so that he could say hi it took all of his inner strength to keep envy from slipping into his greetings. And the times when Clark asked him to leave so he could talk to Lois in private, a deep scowl of jealousy would form on his face as soon as he turned into another room. Lois had no idea how lucky she was to have such a great Alpha attracted to her, while the closest Bruce will ever come to a romantic interest were the toys Clark would get him during his heat. But it seemed that he thought what he did too soon for within a minute after thinking this he was hit by painful aches in his chest, hips and thighs. His heat had come and he was no where near the specially made heat-proof room that held his knot dildos and vibrators. Bruce crumbled weakly to the icy floor, then struggled towards the heat-proof room before he fell to the might of his baser instincts. He couldn't help but note the irony of how his slick was trailing down his thighs faster than he was reaching the room.

Suddenly he was picked up two strong arms and in a flash was taken to the heat-proof room, laid gently on the bed and the door was sealed shut by his rescuer. It was no surprise to Bruce that his rescuer was Clark. However it was a surprise to see the normally calm and unshakable man with a wild, crazed look in his eyes as his round pupils formed into slits with his Alpha nature kicking in. Bruce weakly protested for Clark to leave, not that his voice held much conviction as the dominant male embraced him and began kissing him. Even still he told Clark to stop and to think of his relationship with Lois. But then Clark said that he had no relationship with the Beta female, even going as far as to growl in feral possessiveness at Bruce mentioning the name of someone else while in his presence. Though this greatly shocked the former Dark Knight, he could question the Kryptonian about it later. Right now all he wanted was to do was see if Clark really as faster than a speeding bullet.

* * *

 _When the Night lets in the Sun..._

The morning after their steamy intercourse marathon Bruce's heat had subsided considerably to where he could think clearly beyond the lustful haze making him want to be stuffed with a hard knot. And with this newfound clearer perspective, he was able to turn towards the Alpha sharing his bed...and promptly shove him out. Clark was rather shocked by the sudden movement and was at first confused until a look around the room made him remember just what he and Bruce did only six hours ago. First his inner Alpha was very delighted to have mated with such a fine Omega. But then his logical side swooped in to knock the sobering sense of reality into his inner Alpha, and make him realize that now wasn't the time to be all giddy. Now was the time to explain himself. And from the infamous glare Bruce gave, which left no room for negotiations, he should start explaining now. After they both took a shower, changed into some fresh clothes and Bruce took his suppressants the pair sat down to talk. In the beginning though they didn't do much talking at all. The atmosphere was so nerve wracking and awkward that it was only until Krypto barked as he ran around playing with his favorite indestructible ball that the two snapped out of their silence.

Clark began the conversation by carefully asking Bruce how he felt, and if he gave him a Bond Bite during their mating. To his immense relief the former vigilante told him that he had no such marking on the back of his neck. Then it was Bruce's turn, and he asked what Clark meant by his comment about having no romantic relationship with Lois. Clark didn't respond to his question as quickly as Bruce had responded a moment ago, and Bruce figured he was trying to think of a gentle way to explain that he lied. But once again he was left surprised when the Man of Steel said he meant exactly what he said and had no romantic relationship with Lois. True, he said, he has always harbored a deep affection for her and they have had their share of cozy dates but never anything greatly intimate. And as time passed Clark was starting to see that Lois was becoming more and more committed to her career than to a relationship. Clark wasn't about to make the female Beta slow down her ambitions just to be with him, and so they agreed to a close friend relationship. And for the last fifteen years, even longer than that he admitted, he has been seeing Bruce in the same way that the Omega has been seeing him.

Hearing this confession left Bruce stunned for words. For fifteen years he has harbored deep feelings for Clark that have grown with every day, yet he always thought they were a waste of time and would be unrequited. He thought he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell with someone like Clark. Especially after his incredible fall from grace. But now...it seems like he may just have a shot at gaining some happiness with someone he loves. So with all doubts now a thing of the past Bruce and Clark agreed to start over and do this right with proper courting, unaware of the grand results that this would yield down the road.

* * *

 _Together at last..._

For the next two years Clark would court Bruce to show him that his feelings are sincere. And given this development Diana took it upon herself by literally taking Bruce away to Themyscira. As his designated "big sister" and since Bruce had no mother figure Diana felt obligated to act as the chaperon during Bruce and Clark's courtship. And as the chaperon that meant that Bruce had to remain on the isle of Amazons until he accepts the courtship or otherwise. While the brooding Omega wanted to give his two cents, and maybe even five cents, on what he thought of this well intended yet still annoying imposition Clark didn't mind his fellow Alpha's willingness to help.

Anyway the courtship between the Kryptonian and former billionaire was rather typical even though they themselves were far from it. Clark would bring gifts of things Bruce liked such as thriller and sci-fi novels to pass the time, model kits to keep his hands busy and geodes from different universes and planets to make for a rather interesting collection. With the help of his dear mother Clark also made Bruce scarves, each one a different color or pattern and softer than the last. He was thankful that his Kryptonian hide kept the needle from piercing his skin whenever he missed a stitch. And although she was glad to help Sarah wished that her son's skin wasn't so thick that it broke her needles. Then one day Bruce told Clark that he had made his decision, and wanted to meet with him on the shores of Themyscira. Never in his life had Clark felt so worried since the time he had that three day deadline to write a big article feature on the wedding of a very mean bridezilla. What would Bruce say, he wondered. Yes, no, maybe? The possibilities were almost as endless as his stress. It was times like this that he wished he brought his paper bag to ease his worried breaths but he forgot the damn thing in his haste to suit up and fly to Themyscira. But it was too late to double back and get it because he was just a few yards within the island.

Clark landed on the soft white sand of Themyscira's shores and stood only six feet apart from Bruce. Then the other man raised his hand and half curled back his index finger a few times, beckoning him over. The Kryptonian nervously walked two feet closer which left a four foot gap. Bruce then walked one foot closer and beckoned Clark over again who walked another two feet closer. With one foot of space left between them Bruce stared deeply into the Man of Steel's eyes with no clear expression. Then, for the first time since he went into hiding, he gave the biggest smile Clark has ever seen before tackling his mouth with his own and wrapping his arms around the man's neck. To the delight of Clark and the Amazons spying on them Bruce had accepted his courtship.

And from their union, not only would the pair later gain something they wanted but also give something the world needed.

* * *

 _Getting the news..._

It has officially been two whole decades since Bruce has gone into hiding, and in the last three years of those decades he and Clark have been a couple. After two years of courtship Bruce accepted Clark's feelings and they have been enjoying many happy days in the Fortress of Solitude. And if the Omega could venture into the outside world like he used to with his Alpha their happy days would be perfect. However after the reveal of his secret identity as Batman twenty years ago that will never come to pass. At least they thought it wouldn't, until their dear friends J'onn and Wally showed up with some surprising news. And as the Martian Manhunter and Scarlet Speedster explained everything their news left the couple absolutely stunned.

For the past ten or so years something strange has occurred across the world. Almost the entire some billion population of everyone on Earth seems to have been subjected to an odd strain of amnesia. It wasn't a flat out mind wipe that erased every detail of their entire lives, though. The people could still remembers things like their names and where they live. But a few certain things they have seem to have forgotten about permanently. At first the Justice League assumed that the Legion of Doom was up to no good or maybe even Starro was plotting yet another mind control invasion. But when they investigated into both possibilities and a few others none of them panned out. Whatever the cause of this mass spread of forgetfulness was it had every hero in the business stumped. The only ones who weren't affected by this amnesia strain were heroes, their families and their allies. And when Clark asked what was forgotten by those who were affected Wally gave a smile, this one a mature form of sincerity over his usual goofy grins, and said something Bruce didn't think he would ever hear. Everyone forgot that Bruce Wayne is Batman.

When he heard those seven words the Omega could hardly believe his luck, mentally noting the irony of the phrase, as he first made a shout of joy that would normally be out of character for him. But right now he didn't care. He was so happy that he couldn't stop laughing and hugged J'onn, then Wally and finally Clark. The Man of Steel thanked their friends for delivering this relieving news and told them that he and Bruce will call the rest of the League later. The martian and speedster nodded in understanding then took their leave. Once they were gone Bruce's joyfully laughing then changed to tears. It wasn't like the ugly sobbing of sorrow he did twenty years ago, when Superman took away the fallen Dark Knight after his secret was revealed. This time it was happily relieved crying at the fact that he wouldn't have to hide anymore. Finally, after so long a time of wishing and hoping, he could finally go back home. Not just to Gotham City but to the people there that he called family, and with a new man on his arm to boot.

* * *

 _Homecoming..._

After Wally and J'onn gave the news about the world's mass amnesia strain and how the populace forgot who was the man behind the cowl, Bruce wasted no time in returning to Gotham City the next day. He knew that he should've asked whether or not the news footage of his identity reveal still existed but after spending two decades away from those he loved he didn't give a damn. All he wanted now more than anything was to see the faces of his friends, see the faces of his family. He drove himself and Clark to the high hilltop where the mansion of Wayne Manor once stood before Superman destroyed it for the Knightfall contingency. Bruce didn't know why he would go there since the manor no longer existed but it was the only place he could think of. And once he got there he felt his heart stop, not in a painful way but in a way to make him pause and appreciate the sight before him.

As if it was never hit by the Man of Steel's heat vision Wayne Manor was there and looked almost the same as it did twenty years ago. Though the metal, stone and mortar were different from the materials used to make the original mansion when it was first built it still held the same regal air that comes so naturally with the Wayne Family. Bruce didn't even wait for Clark to say or do anything as he practically tripped from ripping off his seat belt and hurling himself out of the car. He ran up to the black metal gates which had the calligraphic initial of his family name like the old gates used to and pushed them ride open, then ran up the high path leading to the manor. His head was getting light from the Molotov cocktail mix of anxiety and adrenaline rushing through him but again, he didn't give a damn. He wanted to – no, he _had_ to get to those mansion doors. He _had_ to see if this was real. He _had_ to reunite with his family. He just had to...!

Once Bruce made it to the grand doors, which were hand carved with elaborate designed like the old ones were, he shoved them open to reveal the insides of his home looking the exact same as they did so long ago. The first thing that came out of his mouth was the name of the man he considered a father, then the names of the people he considered his sons and daughters soon followed. After a while he received no answer to his shouting and feared that this may all be a terribly cruel dream turn nightmare for a moment. Then suddenly he heard walking from one pair of feet, then two pairs, then three pairs and so on until finally the people who made those walking sounds converged on the front entrance. Standing there was Alfred, Azrael, Dick, Tim, Barbra, James, Bette, Helena, Cassandra, Charlie, Stephanie and Ace and they all had smiles on their faces.

The moment he heard "Welcome home, Master Bruce" the Omega didn't need any further prompting as he ran into the waiting arms of his friends and family. And Clark was right there smiling at the while, just happy to see his beloved happy.

* * *

 _Same place, new changes..._

Deciding that he should first catch up on what has happened in the past twenty plus years since his absence, Bruce abstained from any vigilante activity so the Bat Family and his closest friends of the Justice League could give him the 411. Over the years since Bruce went into hiding, Commissioner James Gordon became Mayor James Gordon and led Gotham to a brighter future in the course of two successive terms. Then after his time as mayor came to an end he went on to become a senator of their state. During that time Barbra had risen through the police ranks and became the second Commissioner Gordon, while Tim stayed in Gotham working as a technological engineer with Wayne Enterprises alongside Lucius Fox. Dick remained in Bludhaven City but would often come to Gotham to visit his extended family. Alfred and Ace lived in a small townhouse in Gotham and enjoyed a simple lifestyle while also dabbling in the competitive dog show circuit. And Azrael has been doing a very exceptional job as Batman with the occasional help from Bette, Helena, Cassandra, Charlie and Stephanie as well as the Justice League members. Then, in the last ten years leading up to Bruce's return, Barbra and Tim came to the realization that they were living more as roommates than husband and wife. So they decided to just have an annulment and separated on good terms. And one year after this Barbra went on to marry a new, up and coming lawyer named Sam Young while Tim married Stephanie. Barbra was even cured of her paraplegic condition thanks to the magical assistance of Kent Nelson. The four other former Batgirls went off on their own by this time but still kept it in touch. Sadly though no one has heard from Jason Todd since he disappeared after murdering Roman Sionis.

When the topic about the mass amnesia strain came up, it was then that Oliver and Kara took the floor. They explained that it began ten years ago seemingly without any cause. The League has been looking into all possible reasons behind this and have only gotten more questions than answers. The only note worthy thing about this odd event was that flower petals from newly discovered plant species flaked off and floated across the continents in which they originate from throughout the seasons. Clark then asked Kara if the video tapes of Bruce's identity being unveiled are still in the hands of the media, knowing that could still be a potentially grave problem. And the second surviving Kryptonian assured her cousin that, as soon as the mass spread of forgetfulness started, the Justice League immediately took advantage of the situation and seized every bit of photographic and video evidence then destroyed it. Then last year Alfred decided to rebuild Wayne Manor the way it used to be and the Bat Family all came together to help him. Since then the new mansion has been standing as proudly as the old one.

After he let all of the news sink in, Bruce decided to share some news of his own and reveal that he and Clark were a couple. While most of everyone was shocked they were none the less happy for the two. And the joy has only just started for them.

* * *

 _From the ashes, renewal..._

Eight months after he returned to Gotham, Bruce decided to reclaim his role as the Dark Knight. Azrael was more than happy to give back the cowl to his mentor because it meant he could put all his efforts into dismantling the group of religious zealots who manipulated him. None of the lower tier criminals or super villains really noticed the difference from one bat themed vigilante to the other. The only thing any of them really brought up was what happened to the sword Batman used to carry, and Bruce could only hope that Azrael used it for slashing things not made of flesh and bone. At any rate he was glad to not only don the mask that he didn't know meant so much to him but to also enjoy the civilian life he missed. Of course he didn't partake in every aspect of his former life, like his old playboy habits. Despite what others think of his views on relationships Bruce is a firm believer in monogamy. So during a party held in honor of his return from a "self discovering journey" and assuming leadership of Wayne Enterprises again Bruce made it clear that he was off the market.

At this Summer Gleason asked how long he has been in a relationship with this mystery person, and Bruce replied that they have been together for three years. Then it was Vicki Vale who inquired about the identity of the person who has actually managed to snatch up Gotham's most eligible Omega bachelor. To this Bruce gave a wide grin and asked for his love to step forth onto the stage, at which point Clark Kent came out from backstage. This stunned the entire crowd and soon the large conference room erupted with shouts of jealous outrage, exclamations of supportive joy and twenty times five questions. However the couple paid little mind and only stated that they will be enjoying their years with each other for as long as they could and would do the things lovers do. Unknown to the crowd this also meant battling crime as the famous World's Finest duo.

Sure things weren't always lovey dovey, and the couple butted heads quite often be it during missions or in civilian settings. But that never stopped Clark and Bruce from loving each other. In a lot of ways the conflicts they dealt with, both inside and outside of their relationship, made them closer than they ever were before. And by extent their bond brought members from both the Super Family and Bat Family closer. Once their relationship hit the six year mark Clark had surprised Bruce by presenting him with a unisex Tanzanite engagement tennis bracelet, and asked him for his hand in marriage.

Bruce was shocked into speechlessness at first but then quickly recovered. And just as quickly he accepted Clark's proposal and let him snap the engagement bracelet onto his wrist. After a bit of celebratory kissing the Dark Knight gave a surprise of his own. One that definitely made the Alpha's marriage proposal pale in comparison; he was pregnant.

* * *

 _The twilight child..._

For the next nine months Bruce would carry the precious weight of his and Clark's child in his stomach. Since Azrael was tending to his own matters, the protection of Gotham was given a woman's touch after Cassandra became the city's new Batwoman until Bruce was done with his maternity leave. And to his surprise it didn't make him nearly as stir crazy as he thought it would. Perhaps those years he spent in the Fortress of Solitude during his exile made him learn to appreciate staying in one place more. Of course that didn't mean he was going to sit up and let his Alpha rub his feet and hand feed him, like how most Omegas would. Bruce would go out shopping with Alfred and still attended meetings whenever it came to handling the affairs of Wayne Enterprises. While everyone would feel less worried if the rich Omega would just sit down they already knew it was a waste of time hoping. And they didn't bother asking his Alpha fiance to help, since Bruce had Clark wrapped around his finger in eight different ways.

In terms of having an official wedding Clark and Bruce agreed to wait until after the latter gave birth. This was also a blessing in disguise as it gave them time to plan the wedding. It wouldn't be a full blown royal ceremony with hundreds of thousands of people though. Just a small to mid sized event with dear friends, family and allies. To a few people's surprise it was actually Clark who suggested to Bruce that they could just sign the needed papers at court and call it a day. However it was Bruce who said that he wanted to have a more traditional wedding because of all events he could speed through a marriage ceremony wasn't going to be one of them. This made Clark very happy to hear and he acquiesced to his fiance's wishes.

Once the nine months had passed, Bruce went into labor one breezy afternoon during the fall season. Alfred was on hand and prepared everything in advance that his surrogate son would require. And when he called Clark to inform him about it the Man of Steel practically teleported to Wayne Manor he flew there so fast. Diana, Shayera and Kara also provided their assistance during the delivery while J'onn used his empathy powers to ease Clark's stress as he stood by his mate's side and held his hand. After several hours a small, pale skinned baby boy came into the world. When Kara gently handed the boy to his Omega parent he opened his eyes to reveal a shade of blue similar to his parents yet so different. Shayera made a joke of how, given the different hours they represent, that the boy was pretty much the twilight between them and they couldn't help but agree.

It was a tender moment to cherish, and everyone left the room so that Bruce and Clark could have their moment with their son. The next day every hero and members of the Super Family and Bat Family would come to see the child. Sarah and Johnathan Kent then asked Clark what the name of their grandson is. And with a smile he replied; Terrance Wayne-Kent.

* * *

 _One big happy family..._

The moment that Bruce's scars from the C-section healed he and Clark went on to have their wedding ceremony, and Bruce Wayne became Wayne-Kent. They wore their rose gold ID wedding bracelets, the plates of which were engraved with Clark's surname and the Wayne family crest underneath it, with pride and had them on practically every waking moment. But the greatest symbol of their marriage was their sweet son Terrance, or Terry for short. Everyone absolutely adored Terry and enjoyed playing with him and babysitting him. More than once certain members of the League, who will not be named, have absconded with little Terry because they wanted to spend more time with him. And while it did peeve the parents a bit Bruce and Clark couldn't be angry at them. After all Terry was a sweet child and was growing up fast every day, which was more than what everyone could say for Bruce. While he was nearing the milestone of sixty he physically looked to be forty five and only had streaks of white to show proof of his age. When Ryan Choi gave Bruce an examination he discovered something quite fascinating.

Apparently due to constant exposure to Clark's DNA the Omega went through something of a "reverse age" effect. Only in this case it actually worked unlike the made up cosmetic gimmicks on TV. When the heroes asked how Bruce was constantly exposed to Clark's DNA the couple blushed while giving each other suggestive looks, which was answer enough for everyone. However Wally and Oliver wanted to hear the details themselves only to be chased out by Ace.

As he got older Clark and Bruce observed Terry's physiology closely to see if he would develop any Kryptonian powers. Over the next seven years Terry would show no signs of Kryptonian powers, which Bruce attributed to his human heritage. Although he did show to have some perks of his near extinct people like how he had keen hearing, though not as super as his father's, and could masterfully change his voice to mimic others. But other than that it seemed that Terry had no major Kryptonian abilities. Clark was actually grateful for this because he didn't want his son to endure the burden of near godly power. Though people may think it's easy to be an unsurpassed being that is hardly the case for Clark, who has had to deal with the drawbacks that came with being the type of person he was. Even though those drawbacks happened years ago he still deals with the haunting anguish now and again. So every day he thanked Bruce for being apart of their son so that he would never have to go through the same trials as he had. This also meant that unlike his parents Terry could actually have a normal life.

However, just because Terry wouldn't ascend to become the new Man of Steel didn't mean that he wouldn't experience a hero's trials. There was still a second legacy he was associated with. And on one dark night the child would be indoctrinated into it...

* * *

 _From generation to generation..._

A simple mission, Bruce told himself when Barbra called and told him Bunny Vreeland was kidnapped. I've done this hundreds of millions of times, he told himself as he donned his newly modified suit he called the Beyond Edition. It wasn't even a large group of kidnappers. Only three to five guys to deal with. He has fought forty thugs at once many times before so this would be no big deal. If only his friends and family would believe him when he said that. Everyone would constantly say that Bruce should consider retirement and let Azrael or someone take on the Mantle of The Bat. It was too risky, they told him whenever he came along during a mission. He couldn't keep doing this, they said when Bruce kept getting into dangerous situations. Bruce knew why they felt the way they did and knew that because of their respect for him they wouldn't speak the reason aloud. And the reason was simple...Bruce Wayne-Kent was getting older. Sure he looked like he was in his forties but biologically he was sixty seven. Just because Clark's sperm reserved the physical progress of his age didn't mean that he had Kryptonian stamina or strength. He was still a mortal man who had his limits, but every time Bruce laughed at those limits. He would push on and continue protecting his city until his dying day. At this everyone thought the billionaire was truly crazy.

Everyone, that is, except for Clark. He was the only one who truly supported Bruce all the way with his continued vigilante escapades. And when dear Alfred Pennyworth passed away peacefully in his bed two years ago Clark took up the responsibility of stitching up his husband and helping him solve his various cases. Tonight wouldn't be any different after Batman returned from rescuing Bunny Vreeland. However he was soon proven wrong when he heard something; a high-pitched ultra sonic whistle only his sensitive ears could pick up. The sound made his heart stop because he had given Bruce an ultra sonic whistle to blow whenever he was in trouble and needed his help. Of course Bruce never blew the whistle, no matter how stacked up the odds were against him. Despite that he always kept it on his person. And to hear that whistle blowing now made him realize that this must truly be a dire moment for Bruce to sound off the single note instrument.

With great haste he put his suit, this one a black and white piece his mother Sarah made before she died, and zipped to the abandoned building where the whistle sound came from. Using his x-ray vision he could see Batman lying on his back while being faced with an assault plasma rifle a thug was aiming at his face. And looking through his husband's suit Superman could see that his spine had sprained and thus he couldn't get up to defend himself. A scan of the building showed that Bunny was held captive in a room just a floor above, with four thugs keeping their weapons trained on her. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone Superman first flew into the top floor through an open window and knocked out the first bunch of thugs, then freed Bunny. Afterwards he tossed the men down a hole in the floor which made them land right on top of thug number five.

Once he made sure the room was clear Superman turned to his fallen husband and with a single, strong pinch he was able to align and fix his spine. Batman then asked if Bunny was alright to which he confirmed. The vigilante sighed in relief then asked for his mate to take him home, not once objecting when Superman picked him up in a bridal hold then flew off towards Wayne Manor. He entered in through the open window of the living room and walked over to the couch, then laid Batman onto it. Normally he would take him to the Bat Cave but given Bruce's bad back he wanted to make him lay on something comfortable, and the medic table down below wouldn't do. Even though Superman put his spine back into proper alignment his husband would still need to be comfortable to ease any extra stress. And that extra stress applied to both the physical and mental meaning. Even from under his mask and without using his x-ray vision Superman could see the expression of frustration and doubt etched on Batman's face. It seemed as though all of the talk of how he was too old to be the Bat got to him and, even though it saved his life and he loved his mate, using the whistle to call the Alpha wasn't the proudest moment the stubborn Omega could have. Even still he was grateful and expressed this to Clark by removing his mask and giving him a kiss.

Then suddenly, without any warning, the couple heard the sound a small 'click' and the once dark room was filled with light. They broke apart from their lip lock to see their seven year old son Terry standing at the top of the stairs, wearing his Batman pajamas and holding his Superman plushy in one hand while the other was still resting on the light switch. Behind him stood the manor's live-in butler Justin Stypes, who was the late Alfred's protege and assumed his role as vigilante caretaker, and he gave the couple an apologetic look. Apparently he was unable to stop the child from coming downstairs to investigate the strange noises. And from the look of his azure blue eyes widened with shocked disbelief, he saw them alright.

It left Bruce and Clark with little choice but to reveal everything to Terry. They told him the truth behind his extended family such as the secondary identities of Uncle Arthur, Aunt Diana, cousin Kara and many others. They even told him the truth about how his adoptive brothers Dick and Tim were the first and third generations of Robin and how his five surrogate sisters were once Batgirl at some point. And they also told him about his godfather Jean-Paul Valley and his identity as Azrael and how Grandfather Alfred, Grampy Johnathan and Grammy Sarah have assisted them in their endeavors. By the time they finished explaining everything, they looked at their son to see how he would react. His expression still held a great amount of shock and he didn't say anything. For a moment Bruce wondered if his son so stunned that he had a mental shutdown. But then he reached for the bat mask that Bruce had taken off, looked at it and then looked at his Omega parent. And after a while he smiled and said something Bruce didn't think he'd hear yet was also not surprised to hear it.

"I want to be the Knight, panjo."

And from that point onward, everything changed. Unable to keep anything superhero related from their son anymore Terry was now involved in everything. Of course he was still too young to go on missions, but he did offer support to his parents and big extended family of heroes. And seeing that bright, happy smile at the end of a hard day of being a heroine or hero made it all worth while. But while Terry couldn't go on missions he could still be trained for the missions he would take on in later years. Slowly but surely he was trained in basic to advanced combat, taught how to interrogate suspects, given tutoring in a few languages such as Kryptonese, the basics of computer hacking and everything else he would need to know if he was to follow in his panjo's footsteps.

Then, after years of training, Terry finally got his chance. When he turned fifteen he didn't get a meager sports car or a boat like most rich kids get. He got the very cowl he has worked so hard towards gaining. And ever since then Terry has served Gotham as it's new generation of savior. Batman, the Knight of Tomorrow he was. He still had a lot to learn but he proved that he had great potential and what it took to be a hero. Terry was determined to show that he could be a strong vigilante even without powers from his Kryptonian half. He was even more determined to prove his worth since he inherited something else from Bruce besides the Mantle of The Bat. When he turned fifteen Terry had presented as an Omega, when he was struck by the usual false-heat fever Omegas go through when they present. Fortunately he was at home when this occurred and Justin was a Beta so he wasn't at risk of any Alphas attacking him. Though this greatly surprised the young Wayne-Kent he didn't feel ashamed about his secondary gender. In fact he was thankful because it gave him that extra push to show that he could be strong no matter what kind of adversity he dealt with, be it a lack of powers or being apart of the fairer faction. Although while he was proud of his Omega heritage he could do without the hungry, greedy looks he got from Alpha men and women. Between his secondary gender and the fact that he was the heir to the seemingly limitless fortune of the Wayne family Terry was often the target of manipulative would-be suitors and kidnappers. However the headstrong young man was too smart to be manipulated and kidnappers found out the hard way that he was no weakling. Terry was definitely an independent fellow who lived by his panjo's old phrase, and "works alone". Granted if he has no other option he will take assistance from his heroic friends and family but aside from that it's not unusual to see the Knight of Tomorrow fly the dark, gloomy skies of Gotham by himself. And for the next two years Terry would continue to fly solo.

Then one day a chain of events would start off that would lead him on the path to something he didn't expect. And it would take him on a journey in which he would face many trials, make some hard choices and deal with demons from both the past and present. But all of his hard work and efforts would pay off, and all thanks to a little birdie...

* * *

 _Neo Gotham, Monday 6:35AM. Wayne Manor..._

Terry Wayne-Kent was sleeping soundly in his bed and let out a few soft snores in between his breathing. Suddenly he felt a slight nudge at his shoulder but didn't budge. Then the person nudged harder but he still didn't move, only giving out a displeased grumble. When he didn't feel anymore nudging Terry let out a small sigh of content that he was given some peace at last. But suddenly he was startled awake when he felt two heavy amounts of weight bounce onto his bed.

"GAH! SLAG IT!" Terry shouted in horror as he was caught up in the mass of limbs bouncing on him. When he pulled his head up he saw that the culprits were none other than the family dogs and animal sidekicks Ace and Krypto.

"Woof, woof!" Krypto barked happily as he licked the face of his youngest master.

"Bark!" Ace barked as he nuzzled Terry's face.

"Ha, ha, ha! Alright, I get it. I'm getting up." Terry said and finally rose up out of bed, yawning as he stretched his limbs. "And to think, people invented something as useless as an alarm clock when they could just easily adopt a dog."

"True, little master, but at least we got sliced bread right." Said an amused voice from the door of Terry's room and he turned to see the middle aged smiling face of his paprika-pepper haired butler Justin Stypes.

"Hey Justin. Did you open the door for them or did they do it themselves this time?" Terry asked as he got on the twelve foot balance beam inside his room, flipping to stand on his hands and stretching his long legs.

"Sorry, Terry, but that's for us to know and for you to spend hundreds of dollars worth of dog treats to bribe the puppers with trying to find out." Justin said with a grin.

"Heh, I've heard of thick and thieves but never thick as butlers and dogs. So are pops and panjo still here?" Terry asked as he performed several back flips on the balance beam before making a soft landing back onto the floor.

"Yes but they won't be here for long. Master B is headed off for a meeting with a few potential merger applicants uptown and Master C is going to Metropolis to cover a new industrial company unveiling. Thought you'd like to give your goodbyes before they head out." Justin explained.

"Thanks Justin. I'll be taking the hover Cord this time." Terry said.

"I figured as much. It's waiting for you outside, little master, and so is a quick but substantial breakfast." Justin said.

"Thanks, Justin. I'll be down in a moment." Terry said and went into his personal bathroom.

After a few minutes the younger Wayne-Kent walked down the stairs with Ace at his left and Krypto at his right. He headed for the kitchen and there he saw his parents. Clark was going over his notes for his report while Bruce was on the phone talking with one of his executives about the merger applicant meeting. Or rather, the older Omega was yelling at one of his executives.

"I don't care how much money they made in the last ten years, Lyle! I care about how many discrimination cases they have had in the last _twenty years_ since they were founded! I am not going to merge with a company that has shown constant prejudice to male Betas! You tell that worn out, bigot hag and her goons to get out of my building now or I'll throw them out myself when I get there!" Bruce shouted into the phone and turned it off with a hard press of the button. When he turned around and saw Terry standing there his angry expression changed into a happy one. "Good morning Terry. How are you today?"

"Morning, panjo. And I'm better than whoever you were just yelling at. Even after you eat you still need to chew." Terry said with an amused expression.

"Chew people _out_ , that is Terry." Clark added with a look of amusement of his own.

"If people would actually learn by now how I do business then I wouldn't have to chew out anyone. And if it's not them being ignorant to my methods then they're masochists for mental beat downs." Bruce stated as he straightened out his tie.

"Came up with that one by yourself, darling?" Clark asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

"I have my moments. But I should get going before Lyle tries to make the merger himself. This is his official third strike, and after today he is out along with that cheesy hula girl bobble head on his desk." Bruce stated.

"I should be going too. I finished my notes about the company and should start compiling my questions for the interview with the CEO of this new industrial company in Metropolis." Clark said.

"Guess that just leaves me going to school. Dana and Max are probably waiting for me already." Terry said.

"Well we won't keep you from seeing them any longer, Terry. See you later. Justin says it's Italian for dinner tonight." Clark said as he ruffled his son's hair.

"Looking forward to it. Bye pops." Terry said and gave his Alpha parent a quick hug before watching him leave.

"And if you get a call about your 'late night job', just let me know and I'll have Justin save you a plate." Bruce said and gave his son a loving peck on the forehead.

"Right, panjo. You and pops take care." Terry said and waved his Omega parent a hug as well, then waved him off.

After munching on a few of the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies Justin and downing a glass of milk Terry then left for school after bidding the butler and dogs farewell. He drove the hover Cord on the usual route he took to school and made it to Hill Highschool with five minutes to spare. As he expected his two female friends Dana Tan and Max Gibson, who were both Betas, were there waiting. He knew the pair since junior high and they have been close ever since. However they were completely unaware of his "night life", which was all for the best since he didn't want them to get involved. Granted he had a feeling that at some point one or both ladies will learn the truth as Bruce and Clark told him that's what usually happens. But for now he is perfectly content with them just being apart of the plainer aspect of his life.

"Well, there's the man of the hour. And on time yet." Max greeted in a friendly, teasing manner.

"Hey I can show up on time when I want to." Terry defended with a grin.

"Yeah. And sometimes we wonder if you have a stunt double while the real you sleeps in." Dana said.

"If only I could, but panjo would figure it out and bust me for it." Terry said as the trio walked to the building of education.

"How are the folks anyway? Did Mr. Wayne-Kent meet his daily quota of making five people cry?" Max asked.

It was pretty common knowledge to everyone in Gotham, even to the tourists, how absolutely merciless Bruce could be when it came to business. Of course he was generous, kind and respectful to his employees and fellow business folk. But if someone was stupid enough to pull some off the records, unethical stunt they can expect to deal with the far less generous, kind and respectful side of Bruce Wayne-Kent. Many times businessmen and businesswomen have ran out of Bruce's office, barely able to fight back the tears from his sever reprimands.

"He just might. So far I can definitely say this one executive is going to need a lot of tissue. The jury's still out on if four more folks will follow." Terry said.

"The more you talk about what a beast your second dad is, the more I think Hollywood should make a TV show called _'When CEOS Attack'_ with your old man as the star. It'll have five seasons at least." Dana said making Terry chuckle.

"I'll run that by him when I get home tonight, though I don't think he'll go for it." Terry said as he pushed the doors open for himself and the girls to enter.

And almost right away Terry could feel _'those looks'_ on him. The looks that his Alpha, and even a few particularly ambitious Beta, classmates would give him whenever he walked through the school halls. But he didn't get nearly as many looks now as he used to when he enrolled last year. Back then it was pretty difficult and hard to deal with when he first started high school after presenting. But thanks to his training as Batman he has learned to steel his emotions a bit the point where he doesn't show that he is visibly upset. However he was far from the hardened, stoic person that his panjo was. He was still a teenager after all and though Terry was more introverted than most people his age he still expressed emotion. And being a young Omega it was hard not to fall to the baser instincts of his secondary gender and hide to get away from the hungry stares and the mean, ignorant comments. But Terry would be damned before he let anyone make him crumble so easily. As hard as it was to shut out the words of doubt from his head he remained strong. Not only to make his parents proud but to set an example for other Omegas like him. Although he had to admit, there are moments when remarks from his peers really tested his patience.

"Hey, it's the moneybags Omega." Whispered one guy to his two friends during English literature class.

"How many credits do you think he has on him now? Like five thousand?" Asked one girl to her friend during chemistry class.

"Please girl, I'll bet he sleeps on five thousand credits for a pillow alone." Replied the friend.

"I wonder how his Alpha dad managed to buy out that news network in Metropolis. He was a poor country boy from the start, so I'll bet he tapped into the Wayne fortune the minute he hooked up with his sugar daddy." Said a guy history class.

"Makes you wonder why he would go to school here when he has the money to go off to one of those ritzy schools." Said a girl during algebra class.

"You think he's into Betas? I mean I'm on the hockey team so I could have a shot." Said another guy to his friend during lunch as they walked past Terry to sit at the jock table.

"If he's anything like how his Omega old man used to be I think you'd have as good of a shot as anyone. Like father like son, you know? And I heard the father was pretty wild back in the day before he got married." Replied the other male to his buddy.

It was statements like that which made Terry really hated that, of all things, he had to inherit his pops' keen hearing. More than being personally hurtful the comments made him angry because they also insulted his parents. How dare they talk as if they knew his parents? You would think that all the years that have passed would make people stop making such awful assumptions that have already proven to be untrue. His parents loved each other and were faithful to one another, and they certainly didn't mate each other for selfish reasons. He was also sick of people thinking that just because he's rich he's automatically a snob who goes off spending his parent's money. Seriously? He has a job and earns his own money, damn it! And the only thing he splurges on with his family funds is charities to help the people of Gotham, Metropolis and anyone from any other place live better lives. Apparently Terry's frustration was growing noticeable as Dana laid a comforting hand on his arm.

"Hey, Terr, calm down. You're gonna break the glass and cut yourself if you keep getting riled up like this." Dana said.

"Huh?" Terry blinked a few times as his anger slowly subsided and he looked down at his left hand to see that he was holding onto his glass cup in a near death grip, and if he held on any tighter it would have broken like Dana said. "Oh...Thanks for the warning, Dana. I guess I lost my head a little."

"And I think I know why. Don't let what those jerks say bother you, Terry. Everyone knows what you _and_ your parents are really like." Dana said reassuringly.

"Yeah. They're just jealous because they can't pull of the tasteful money persona like you can." Max said.

"Max...what the hell is the tasteful money persona?" Terry asked, eyebrow raised in question and face grinning in slight amusement.

"If you stayed up to date with a certain character trope website like the rest of us you'd know, WK." Max said coyly.

This seemed to ease Terry's once sour mood as he chuckled, and the girls smiled at seeing their friend happy again. But the pleasant lunch moment was soon interrupted when an unwanted person came over to their table. It was Nelson Nash, captain of the school hockey team and the ipso-facto heartthrob of Hill Highschool. He was also an Alpha so added with his high rank among the hockey team he is the highest on the food chain second only to Terry given his elite status, not that he put much stock in it and considered himself to be better of course. When Terry first arrived at the school Nelson wasted no time in making a pass at him and assumed he would be an easy conquest because he, like many others, took him for a ditzy rich Omega boy. However Terry showed him that he wasn't an easy lay and that he wasn't interested in dating. Since then Nelson has taken Terry on as a personal challenge to try and seduce him but thus far to no avail. Not that he let something like multiple emphatic rejections stop him, of course.

"Hey, Terry-Berry! How's it going?" Nelson asked, using the obnoxious name that Terry has grown to despise.

"There's no 'berry' in my name, Nash. And it was going fine a moment ago." Terry said with a glare directed at the Alpha jock.

"Keyword being was." Dana said with a displeased look of her own.

"Don't you have hockey field strategies to plan for the next game, Nelson?" Max asked in a hinting tone, hoping that the other male would get the clue. But he didn't.

"Sure, but I can always get to that later. I always got time for the hottest Omega in town." Nelson said suggestively, leaning closer to Terry who leaned away from him.

"Well maybe you should go and find them before they leave." Terry said.

"Come on, you're way too modest Wayne-Kent. I mean you got looks that would cost thousands of credits in plastic surgery to get." Nelson said.

"Gee, thanks Nelson. You're such a charmer." Terry said in a deadpan, sarcastic tone.

"Hey, they don't call me Nelson the Smooth-Talker for nothing." Nelson said with an arrogant look about him.

"Somehow I get the feeling they don't call him that at all." Dana whispered to Max who nodded in agreement.

"Anyway I came over wondering if you got any plans this Friday. Me and the rest of the guys are going to a to a hot new club and I could use a plus one." Nelson said, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manor.

"Then get a calculator and add one to another number. I already told you that I'm not interested, Nelson. Besides I have a late night job that is very important." Terry stated.

"Aw come on Terry. You got enough money to live a hundred lifetimes. Why bother with a job when you don't even need one? I mean you're an Omega, and all Omegas have to do is look cute and get married." Nelson responded.

In that moment, Terry's entire body went into rigid state. And Dana and Max shared a look of concern over what they knew would transpire. Of all the statements someone could make towards the young man the one type of statement he would never tolerate was a derogatory remark about Omegas. Even though the fairer faction have come up in the world since the late 70's, many holding prestigious jobs and seats of power, there are still the bunch who view them as nothing more than accessories. And others view them as even less than that. This was one of the reasons why Terry works his body so hard during his physical training and worked even harder to be as great a hero as he could be. It was to prove that an Omega can be just as strong as any Alpha or Beta. So to hear Nelson say that all an Omega is supposed to do is basically serve as a homemaker doll made him more than a little angry. There was a thick silence at the table for a moment before Terry turned to face the Alpha with a smile, but it wasn't a happy one. It was a smile that held bad intent.

"So...you think that all an Omega has to do is get married and look cute, huh Nash?" Terry asked in an obviously false tone of niceness. Even the normally unaware jock could tell that he wasn't in a good mood.

"Uh...Y-Yeah..." Nelson replied but his answer lacked the confidence his previous remark had.

"I see. Well, when it comes to being cute..." At this Terry paused and squeezed the glass in his hand hard enough for it to partially break and split down one side. "...Most folks say I'm cute when I'm angry. And right now, I. Am. _**Pissed.**_ "

It seemed like Nelson finally got the picture, for he readily stood up and backed away from Terry.

"Say, I think you were right before Gibson! Me and the team should be coming up with strategies for the next game! I should be going now. Later!" And with that Nelson made a hasty retreat.

"Heh. Bet Nelson doesn't hustle nearly as fast as that during hockey practice." Max said with a grin.

"He was worried that Terry would squeeze his knot the same way he squeezed that class. Speaking of which, how is your hand Terr? I hope you didn't cut yourself." Dana said as she took Terry's left hand to give it a look over, relieved to see that no glass was embedded.

"Nah, it's fine. I just gave it a little squeeze. Though I'll probably have to slip the lunch lady a few credits to replace it." Terry said.

"While you're at slip her some recipes. You'd think that someone who's been working here for as long as she had would know how to cook." Max said, poking at the questionable looking hamburger...if it even was a hamburger that is.

The school day progressed fairly well after that, and Terry didn't hear any more snide comments people made behind his back. School soon came to a blessed end as the final bell rang and students piled out of the building in groups. Terry, Max and Dana were one of those groups as they walked down the flight of stairs and chatted.

"So we're all going to have a cram session at my place Saturday for next week's global history test?" Dana asked to her friends.

"Yep. And then we'll quiz each other the day before." Max said.

"Sounds like a plan to me. If all goes well I'll treat you ladies to a night on the town at our favorite dance club, and an epic dinner." Terry added which made the two female Betas smile in delight.

"Spoken like a guy after my own heart. Well me and Max should be headed home." Dana said.

"Yeah, Empress gets cranky and starts arguing with the neighbor's dog when I don't show up to feed her on time." Max said.

"Well what do you expect when you name a cat Empress? That she'll be patient and not want to be waited on?" Dana asked with a grin as the two girls walked off.

"Ha! Good point. See ya later, Terry! Tell the folks we said hey." Max called out as she turned to wave off her male friend.

"Sure thing! See you girls tomorrow!" Terry called out and waved back, then he got into the hover Cord and drove back to Wayne Manor.

Later on, during the early evening as the sky took on an even shade of dark blue, Terry sat down at the table with his parents and Justin all while enjoying the delicious dinner the paprika-pepper haired butler made. Ace and Krypto were beside their respective masters eating their homemade dog food also. The small family chatted in between bites of food and before anyone knew it the time was already eight o'clock PM. It was then that Terry decided it was time to clock in for his night job.

"Well, I should be going on. The night is still young and there's plenty of time for people to start trouble." Terry said.

"Don't I know it. We'll leave you to it then, son. Dinner was excellent as usual, Justin." Bruce said.

"Thank you, Master B. I'll clean up the mess from dinner after I help little master with his late evening work." Justin said.

"No worries, Justin. We'll handle it. And you be careful out there tonight Terry." Clark said as he gave his son a hug.

"Relax, pops. I'm as careful as panjo was when he used to do this." Terry assured.

"I know. That's why I'm so concerned." The Kryptonian said with a grin which made Bruce roll his eyes.

"If there is anyone who's idea of being careful you have to be concerned about, it's Oliver's. Now gather up the dishes, I'll wash and you can dry." Bruce said as he headed for the kitchen.

"You only want me to dry because I can use my super breath to do it faster." Clark stated as he gathered up the utensils, plates and bowls then followed after Bruce.

"Of course. What's the point of having Superman for a husband if I can't use him to cheat my way around chores?" Bruce asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"They remind me of a similar same sex couple from an old TV show about two boyfriends who adopt a little girl and go through their daily lives." Justin said as he walked with Terry to the private study, which was more than a simple study.

"Yeah? Were they superheroes too?" Terry asked as he walked to the bronze head bust of Shakespeare mounted on the desk and pulled back the head, revealing a cleverly hidden red knob and gave it a twist. This resulted in the old Grandfather Clock slowly pulling itself back from the wall and sliding to the side and revealing a hidden staircase. The same staircase his panjo has walked down many times before him.

"No, but they were just as hilarious to watch as Master B and Master C." Justin said and let Terry walk downstairs ahead of him before following the young Omega downstairs.

Once they made it to the lower floor the pair were greeted with the place that has served as a home away from home for the Bat Family for many years. The legendary Bat Cave which was filled with a nearly immeasurable number of gadgets, multiple vehicles with different transportation methods, various bat suits and evidence mementos from past cases. The first time that Terry saw the Bat Cave was two years ago, after Bruce had deemed he was ready to become the Knight. It was the greatest moment he felt he would ever experience and to this day it is still a treasured memory for him. Now he was going to make even more memories here and maybe even add evidence mementos of his own. The young hero walked towards the wardrobe turnstile which held unique bat suits tailored for the continuous war on crime that plagues Gotham City. And tonight he would wear the very first heroic ensemble the turnstile was set to. The Beyond Edition suit, the very same one that Bruce wore for a short period before passing it on to his son. Being fully equipped with Batarang launchers, jet boots with a magnetic hold feature, contractible wings, arm razor blades for defense and offense, an invisibility cloaking mode, heart rate sensors that can detect even the smallest spike in a suspect's pulse when performing interrogation, listening device and audio recorder, grapple cord launcher, a palm top computer and Detective Mode scanner made the Beyond suit the most adaptable bat suit that Bruce had ever created. And if Terry was going to stay one step ahead the criminals of Gotham he was going to need every trick the suit had.

The bats in the cave flew all about the wide underground space as Terry took out the suit and proceeded to dress into it. First he zipped on the full body suit, then strapped on the jet boots which blended seamlessly into the suit, pulled on the gloves and finally placed the cowl over his head. Gone was the teenager Terrance Wayne-Kent, and now stood the vigilante Batman. As if cheering for him the bats flew past Batman's side and above his head, wings just barely grazing him, then disappeared back to the ceiling of the Bat Cave. Batman then sprayed on the artificial Alpha pheromones to mask his own Omega scent. While he had no shame in his secondary gender it wouldn't do for the image of the fearful personified form of vengeance to smell like an Omega.

"All set then, little master?" Justin asked.

"Yes. I'll be doing patrols until eleven thirty. Not that I'm hoping to actually get here at any time before midnight of course." Batman said as he used his palm top computer to activate the Batmobile and open the entry skylight.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, little master. Now get out there and kick some ass." Justin said as he took his seat at the Bat Computer.

"Oh trust me, I plan to." Batman said with a grin before running up to the Batmobile and jumping through the entry skylight.

Gripping onto the steers he synced his suit with the controls of the Batmobile and drove it out the cave, exiting through the fake school bus exit at the old scrap yard. Batman then took to the skies as he surveyed Neo Gotham from above. From this vantage point the city looked unassuming and was as normal as any city place, full of hustle and bustle with folks going out doing their nightly errands or hitting the club. But Batman knew better. Underneath the veil of simplicity was crime and ill intent lurking everywhere. That's where Batman came in, to serve as the line of defense that keeps that crime and ill intent from harming the Gothamites of this city. _His_ city. And whether it was petty thieves or full blown masterminds no one is going to cause it any harm on his watch.

For the next hour and a half, Batman would patrol the skies and bust a gang of three would be burglars trying to get in through the windows of their potential victims. Afterwards he lowered the hover vehicle down to patrol the streets and caught two purse snatchers, two armed thugs attempting a hold up a store and knife wielding stalker following a woman. All in all it was a pretty quiet night. And after an hour passed, and it was ten-thirty PM, the young vigilante ran into no further incidents after that. Thus he decided to perform one last round of patrols before calling it an early night. He headed downtown to the old Brideshead neighborhood, which once served as a place of residence to a certain infamous cat lady. Much like it was back in the old days it is a prominent middle class neighborhood that is home to single people and small families, however that didn't mean it was immune to crime. Brideshead has had more than it's fair share assaults, burglaries, drug sells and was even the territory of a various gangsters that have come and gone over the ages. So he figured that he would roam the rooftops and watch for any shady characters down below. Batman landed the hover Batmobile on the roof of a store then it to invisible cloak mode before exiting. From there he walked along the rooftops and observed the people on the sidewalks. There were a few regular folks such as little old ladies taking casual evening strolls or teens out talking with each other.

So far none of the masses stood out. They all seemed like ordinary people. And after half an hour passed, the literal eleventh hour of the evening struck. Batman was nearly ready to make the trip back to Wayne Manor until he heard people talking in a much rowdier tone than the calm talking he's heard before. It made him turn his head to look across the street and there he saw a group of five punks, maybe a little older he was give or take a year. In an instant something in his head, like a radar, set off and told him to follow these guys. Call it a sixth sense or whatever you want to call it but even before he started training to succeed Bruce the young vigilante has always had an inner sense that alerted him to suspicious people or situations. He supposed it was something he inherited from his parents from the get go.

Having made the decision to follow after the troublemakers Batman unfolded the leather material underneath his arms and flew across the street, landing on the rooftops there. From above he could see the trope of punks moving their lips, talking to one another. So he set his listening device to hone in specifically on their conversation. And soon their words came in so clearly it was like they were right next to him.

"Yo, you guys sure we should be doing this?" Asked one punk with multiple tattoos along his arms.

"What are you talkin' about, TJ?" Asked the second with hair dyed in a wild blend of orange and blue that was cut into a fade.

"I'm talkin' about this job, Marty. I mean don't any of yous feel uneasy about disturbing people's graves?" Asked TJ again.

"What's ta disturb? They're dead so it ain't like we're messing up their beauty sleep or anything." Said a third punk wearing an open vest with no shirt, showing a large scar that ran across his torso.

"I'm with Ripper. We're just digging up a few holes and junk. And if that extra help comes in like the guy said it would, we probably won't even have to do anything." Stated the fourth punk wearing multiple bracelets on his arms that went up to his elbows.

"I guess, Brock. But still...I don't want to get cursed by a ghost or something. I've seen those old horror movies, and we're settin' ourselves up like the idiots who'll get killed by some crazy bastard in a mask with a chainsaw or a guy in a sweater with knife fingers cause we don't leave crap buried like it's supposed to be." TJ said.

"Get your head outta fantasy land, TJ. That's just the jalapeno chili cheese dog you ate talkin' to ya. We're doing this job with or without you, cause for twenty five thousand credits I ain't afraid of no ghosts. So you're either in or out." Said the fifth punk, who appeared to be the leader, and had multiple piercing on his ears, one on his right eyebrow, one on his upper lip and one on his nose.

"Alright, Gabe, I'm in. But I still feel like this night ain't gonna end as simply as we think it will." TJ said with a worried shake of his head.

The conversation made Batman cock his head in curiosity. The way these guys were talking it sounded like they were discussing plans to rob graves for bodies. Despite the modern times, grave robbing is still one of the lucrative illicit occupations you can have in the criminal underground. Medical school professors desire cadavers in order to use for their classes, people who use corpses for insurance scams when faking their deaths and sexual sadists with fantasies that involve dead bodies. Despicable as it sounds a grave robber could make quite the decent living, especially if the body was freshly deceased. But this bunch wouldn't get to enjoy those twenty five thousand credits or desecrate any burials. Not with Batman on the job. He was glad that he listened to his inner and decided to listen in on their conversation, and the TJ fellow was right. Tonight _wasn't_ going to end as simply as they think.

Batman picked up the pace a little as he continued to follow them from where he was on the rooftops. He watched them as they turned a few corners, and he leaped across to different rooftops that matched followed those corners. Eventually the unsuspecting shady punks led him to an abandoned, old apartment complex. A quick look to the street sign revealed that Batman had followed them all the way to Sorrow Street. Originally the street earned it's name from a well respected war veteran with the surname Sorrow, but gradually the name took on a more infamous meaning as 80% of the crime in Brideshead started happening here. And that abandoned complex has served as a meeting spot for criminals throughout the years.

The young vigilante watched as the trope of punks walked into the old apartment complex, then waited for about five minutes before leaping across from the rooftop of the mini-mart he was on to an open window. Batman then set his suit to invisibility cloak mode in order to keep the element of surprise on the group. He then began to silently walk through the complex, making sure to avoid any particularly creaking floors so he wouldn't give away his position. Soon he started to hear the same voices that were conversing not too long ago and followed them to the top floor of the apartment complex. There in the one of the larger rooms of the complex were the shady punks, all surrounding a table. It looked as though they were studying something like a map or a book. Taking a chance Batman slowly snuck into the room without making a sound and stood by the couch closer to where the group was standing. Using the zoom in feature of his suit's Detective Mode he could see that they were in fact studying a map, and it was an old paper map instead of the hard light digital maps of today. While he couldn't quite make out what the map said from his distance he would see large red colored circles and arrows over the paper. Then the leader, Gabe, spoke up.

"Alright, now this is where the old cemetery is. The boss said to dig up the graves marked with these dates. " Gabe explained.

"Why these guys out of the rest of 'em?" Asked Ripper.

" _That's what I'd like to know..._ " Batman thought to himself.

"I was there with Gabe when he came up to us and hired us for the job. He didn't say much about why, except that those bodies under those dates are the 'special ones' that he wants. Whatever the hell that means is beyond me." Brock said.

"Who cares what he meant or what his reasons are? Far as I'm concerned as long as we get paid he can use those bodies for playin' tea party." Marty said and his friends voiced their agreement.

So, a mysterious person approached the shady characters and promised them twenty five thousand credits to dig up certain bodies at an old cemetery. The only question now was why. Why certain bodies, and what was this unknown person going to use them for? Unfortunately though the Knight of Tomorrow didn't have an answer for either question.

" _But that doesn't mean I can't_ _ **persuade**_ _them to answer my questions."_ Batman thought to himself with a grin, and was just about to dial down his invisibility cloak mode to confront the group.

Suddenly though someone beat him to it. And they did so with a bang, breaking through the weak wall which made stone and plaster debris fly everywhere. The punks were all startled by this and shouted horrified expletives. Batman got caught up in the blast of debris as well, and one hunk of stone went flying into his belt which made the invisibility cloak mode short circuit and resulted in him turning visible again. Gasping in shock Batman immediately ducked back into the hallway and peaked into the room carefully. He didn't know who or what caused that hole in the wall and he didn't know if it would turn on him, for the moment he will just stand on the sidelines and observe.

The smoke from the blast slowly began to clear up and Batman could now see two new occupants in the room standing by the whole. And when he got a good look at them he uttered a soft 'wow' of awe. One was a bald teen, maybe two years or so younger than him, wearing the classic Green Lantern uniform and his body glowing a vibrant emerald green aura. And of course he wore the signature Green Lantern Corps ring on his right hand. He floated in the air on his energy and had a calm, almost deadpan facial expression as he looked upon the shocked punks. Though he didn't know for sure, Batman got a feeling that told him the Green Lantern was a Beta.

Then there was the second new person...And he was unlike any other person he had ever seen. It was a slightly older teen who wore a strong, luminescent silvery armor suit that didn't appear to be any kind of regular metal. There was also a silhouette outline of a hawk head on the chest of said armor, and on back of the armor were large wings with a black mesh-like material with more of that silvery armor lining it like a bird's wing bone. From the nose up his head was covered by a helmet and his eyes were visible through blood red lenses which made him look even more intimidating. And the armor gauntlets he wore had sharp points at the ends where the fingers go in, making Batman think of a hawk's vicious talons that can rend flesh. Based on his muscular form Batman figured that he may just be an Alpha male. It wasn't until Justin spoke into his ear that Batman snapped out his mental assessment.

" **Seems like you have some unexpected help, little master.** " Justin said over the communication channel.

"Yeah, but let's see first if they'll help me out or help themselves." Batman responded as he continued to watch the events occurring before him.

"Who the hell are you guys!?" Asked the the dual dyed punk Marty in a demanding voice.

"Well, since the insignia on my uniform isn't an obvious enough giveaway, I'll tell you. I myself happen to be a Green Lantern and the junior lieutenant in charge of the Milky Way sector that Earth is apart of." Spoke the bald teen in a calm voice.

"And as for me, you can call me your insurance adjuster. Because if you don't tell us what we want to know you guys are sure going to need one. Now I'll only ask once; where is Black Hand?" The hawk-like male demanded in question.

Black Hand? That was a strange name for sure, yet something in Batman's gut told him that he should know it. But for the life of him he couldn't begin to put a face or an object to the name. He'll have to do a cross reference on "Black Hand" later. Right now he needed to focus on the situation at hand. Figuring that now was as good a time as any to make himself known the young vigilante walked into the room and cleared his throat.

"Seems like I'm not the only one with some questions for you boys." Batman said, and everyone turned to look at him. The punks all gasped in horror, the Green Lantern looked pleasantly surprised while the hawk-like male appeared indifferent to the point that he looked as though he didn't care.

"Ah, Batman. What an honor it is to meet you in person for the first time. I had a feeling that we would cross paths during our trip to Gotham City." Spoke the Green Lantern in a pleasant voice.

"Glad I could make your evening. You know my name, so what's yours and your buddy's?" Batman asked.

"I am Kai-Ro, and this fellow with me is Warhawk. And we're here because we have business to conduct with this bunch concerning our mission." Kai-Ro explained, pointing at the group of five that stood between them.

"Well as it happens, so do I. Perhaps then we could collaborate and work them over together." Batman suggested.

But before Kai-Ro could say anything Warhawk spoke up in a rather loud voice.

"Forget it, Bats! We don't need your help, and whatever you have to ask these losers can wait until we're done with them." Warhawk stated, then looked over at the punks. "Now, are you boys going to do this my way willingly or do I have to make you do it my way?"

"Tch, you got a lot of nerve turkey vulture! The only way you're going is out the same way you and yer little green friend came. Only this time we'll fill you up with holes!" Gabe stated.

At this all of the punks whipped out their guns, two aiming at Warhawk and Kai-Ro while the other three took aim at Batman. Each male used different forms of retaliation. Batman ducked the bullets and charged at the three hooligans shooting at him then nailed two with a hard split kick. Kai-Ro, meanwhile, formed a shield of green hard light to deflect the bullets while Warhawk leaped out from above and flew straight at them then tackled the pair to the ground by slamming their heads into the floor. With the first four down for the count that left only the lone tattooed punk TJ, who was braced against the wall and quaking with fright.

"P-Please, don't hurt me!" TJ pleaded as he moved his arms to cover his head.

"If you tell us what we want to know, we may consider it. Who paid you and your buddies to dig up bodies and why? And where is this Black Hand person?" Batman asked.

"Wait, digging up graves? Are you sure?" Kai-Ro asked to the young vigilante.

"That's what I heard them talk about when I followed them here. They even have a map on the table and where going over it while they were talking." Batman said and took a few steps to the table and grabbed the map, showing it off to Kai-Ro and Warhawk.

"Hm...it seems to be a layout of some location. But the name of that location is unlisted, so this must have be a pattern drawn over the actual map itself to avoid anyone deciphering it." Kai-Ro said. At this Warhawk gave a scoff and regarded Batman with an unimpressed look.

"Some clue, fruit bat. What good is that to us if nothing is listed on it?" Warhawk asked in a tone of snide.

Batman felt his eye twitch in irritation at the name. Oh no, he did not just call him _**fruit bat.**_ If he was a petty man he would respond with an avian themed insult. However he was above such childish comebacks and kept it in the back of his mind. Instead he counted to five in his head before giving a calm, mature response.

"Well, if we just work together like I suggested before I'm sure we could figure this out if we took a moment to sit down and study this map ourselves." Batman explained.

"It would be a wise tactical move to choose, Warhawk." Kai-Ro said to his ally, who only gave an amused laugh.

"Ha! Screw that. Like I said, Bats, we don't need your help. And instead of trying to translate a lame drawing I have better methods to get answers." Warhawk stated and before anyone could do or say anything he marched over to a frightened TJ and grabbed him by the collar, raising him up off the ground.

"A-Ahh! Please man, d-don't kill me!" TJ begged as he flailed his legs about.

"Don't worry, buddy. I won't kill you. We're just going out for some late night flying." And with that Warhawk threw the man over his shoulder and flew out the hole in the wall and a fast speed which made TJ scream with renewed terror.

"Oh dear. This doesn't bode well." Kai-Ro said.

"That damned maniac!" Batman exclaimed and after tucking the map into his utility belt he unfolded his wings and kicked on his jet boots to chase after Warhawk while Kai-Ro followed.

Meanwhile Warhawk was flying higher and higher which made TJ scream louder and louder. The punk may act tough but he was deathly afraid of heights. It took a pep talk from his friends just to make him go up to the top floor of that old apartment complex. And with how high this crazy bird guy was going he felt like he would die! Finally the flying stopped and Warhawk pulled TJ off his shoulder and held onto him by the wrist of his arm, leaving him to dangle in the wide open hair at least eight stories up above ground.

"Ahhh! Help me! Someone save me!" TJ Exclaimed as he grabbed onto Warhawk's arm with his other hand.

"Now listen, mac, this is the last time I'll ask so you better have an answer. Where is Black Hand?" Warhawk asked.

"I...I don't know who you're talkin' about, man!" TJ stated.

"Yeah? So why don't I believe you?" Warhawk asked as he quickly let go of TJ's wrist before grabbing him again at the fingers. Now he was getting even closer to a downward demise.

"Ahhh! I swear to God man, I don't know who Black Hand is! And if he says I do he's lyin'!" TJ exclaimed as he desperately tried to get a stronger hold on his only life line.

"Actually, I think you're the one lying. And I hate liars." Warhawk said and let go of TJ's fingers, letting him hurtle down to the pavement.

"AAHHHHH!" TJ screamed at the top of his lungs as he free-felled further and further down, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes and heart drumming at one hundred and five miles an hour. But just when he thought he was going to meet his end, he fell into a pair of arms that held tightly onto him. "...H-Huh? W-What?" The punk looked up and saw shocked to see none other than Batman holding onto him. Without a word the vigilante flew over to a rooftop and gently settled him down.

"You okay?" Batman asked. TJ panted to catch his breath and once he finally calmed down he rushed over to Batman and kissed his boots.

"Thank you, thank you _**so damn**_ much! You're a savior, Batman! I swear I'll straighten up my act after this. And I'll make my guys do the same too!" TJ stated as he switched from kissing one boot to kissing the other.

"Um, yeah...No problem man." Batman said and slowly pulled his boot out of the man's grip. Just then Kai-Ro arrived, as did Warhawk.

"A good show, Batman, and a very commendable rescue. Though when it comes to some people 'good' and 'commendable' aren't the words that leap to mind." Kai-Ro said, looking up at Warhawk to glare at him.

"What!? I was coming down to catch him. You should know I'm not like that Kai-Ro. I was just giving the guy a little scare. Then the fruit bat here got in my way." Warhawk stated, glaring at Batman as he landed down beside him.

"In _your_ way? I think it's the other way around, pal, considering that you're in my city and took things from five to five hundred when it didn't have to go that far!" Batman stated and got closer to Warhawk, looking up at him and noticing for the first time that he is considerably taller than him. But he didn't care. He was mad as hell right now.

"I don't care if you own every grimy street within miles of this place! I told you that what we have to ask them is more important than what you have to ask. And I was this close to making him tell the truth." Warhawk said.

"I was telling the truth, buzzard! I don't know any Black Hand!" TJ stated angrily, but one glare from the armored male made him squeak in terror and hide behind Batman.

"Please don't worry about him, sir. He's harmless. And for what it's worth Batman and I believe you. However you have to understand that we followed you here after seeing you speak with a man we know to be Black Hand." Kai-Ro said.

"Listen up, if that was his name we didn't know. The name we got was totally different. It was him that asked us to dig up certain bodies at some old cemetery. It was the easiest twenty five thousand credits ever so we agreed." TJ explained.

"So this Black Hand guy asked you to dig up graves? Why? And where are these graves?" Batman asked.

"I..." But before TJ could finish Warhawk cut him off and grabbed him again.

"Not so fast, Bats. He's part of our mission, and we'll be doing the questioning. So back off!" Warhawk stated.

"Wrong, pal. You lost that right when you almost made this guy die of a heart attack. So _I'll_ do the questioning while _you_ back off." Batman said and grabbed onto the gauntlet that held the collar of TJ's shirt in a fist.

"I'm warning you, fruit bat. Move it or I'll _make_ you move!" Warhawk threatened.

"You couldn't make a bird flap it's wings, mister." Batman replied snarkily.

That seemed to do it for Warhawk, as he dropped TJ in favor of striking a punch at Batman. However the young vigilante saw the move coming and ducked to the side, then grabbed onto Warhawk's arm used the momentum against him to toss his larger opponent over his shoulder. This made the other male land on his back hard and he made a painful grunt from the impact. Before he could even get up to try and retaliate a Batarang greeted his face. And even from his upside down position he could tell that the Knight of Tomorrow was grinning rather smugly.

"Grr...Why you..." Warhawk started but his anger left him at a loss for words.

"Now, what was that you said about making me move?" Batman asked. Before things escalated any further Kai-Ro flew over to play peace keeper.

"Warhawk, perhaps it would be best if we regroup and ponder on Batman's offer. As it stands there's nothing more we can do here. And we could use a good night's rest." Kai-Ro said. For a moment Warhawk said nothing, then he slowly picked himself up and brushed himself off.

"Fine, whatever. As long as I can get away from the fruit bat here. And don't think for a minute this is over, Bats. Next time I'll make good on my promise and make you move." Warhawk said and with that he flew off, even without his Green Lantern ally.

"Charming fellow." Batman said sarcastically.

"I do apologize for his behavior, Batman. Warhawk is a good hero, truly he is. But he can be rather...bullheaded at times." Kai-Ro said.

" _Even bulls are more civil than **that**..._ " Batman thought to himself with a roll of his eyes.

"At any rate, I hope that this bad first impression won't make you withdraw your offer to work together. We could really use the aid, as we are not native to Gotham City." Kai-Ro said.

"No worries, the offer is still on the table. But I suggest you have a long talk with Mr. Warhawk about manners. Because next time he won't even be able to fly off with his tail feathers between his legs." Batman stated.

"Understandable. And thank you again. I must be off now." With that, Kai-Ro flew off and followed after Warhawk.

Once the two other heroes were gone, TJ did what he has been wanting to do since almost fell to his death; he fainted. See the man plop to the ceiling and go out cold Batman groaned in frustration. Guess he's not going to get any answers out of this guy. May as well call Commissioner Gordon and have her pick up TJ and his buddies from the apartment complex.

" **For what it's worth, little master, I think you handled that very well. A lesser dude would've been cursing that hawk guy out.** " Justin said over the comm-link.

"Actually Justin, you may want to mute the communication channel for a while. This dude has a lot of pent up cursing to let out." Batman said and the butler chuckled.

" **Dully noted.** " Justin said.

After explaining everything that happened to Barbra, and taking the long way back to Wayne Manor while shouting every swear word in both English and Kryptonese, Terry finally made it back home. He parked the Batmobile on the landing spot and then got out through the skylight. He grumbled angrily as he practically ripped off his mask and stormed down the stairs.

"Rough night, son?" Asked the voice of his Alpha father and Terry looked up to see his parents at the Bat Computer.

"More like the worst, pops. I would trade any of panjo's nights to have never experienced this one." Terry said as he plopped down into the chair by the Bat Computer.

"I had a feeling it was bad. That's why I asked Justin to make you some hot chocolate with those little marshmallows." Bruce said as he tenderly stroked his son's hair in an attempt to ease his stress.

"Thanks, panjo. I really appreciate it. But I don't think even gooey little balls of sugar in liquid cocoa will help me forget **him**." Terry said as he glared at the thought of the jerk he met a while ago.

"And who exactly is this him you're talking about, Terry?" Clark asked.

"I can't even describe him. Take a look for yourself." Terry said and tapped a few buttons on the wide keyboard then pulled up the video feed from the Beyond suit.

He skipped ahead to when he first encountered Warhawk and Kai-Ro and let it play on. As he watched Warhawk again through fresh eyes he found that he was even more annoying to watch a second time. It made him want to throw something at the screen, if he didn't know that his panjo would be mad about wrecking fifty thousand credits worth of custom hardware.

"Oh my God..." Bruce let out in shock.

"I can't believe it." Clark said, equally surprised.

"I know right? How much of a prick can one person be?" Terry asked to his parents.

"No, Terry, not that. We meant that we can't believe we're seeing him again." Bruce said. The reply made Terry do a double take and swivel the chair around to face his parents.

" _Again_?! You mean you know that sorry son of a buzzard?" Terry asked, pointing at an image of Warhawk on the screen.

"Yes, Terry. And actually...you know him also." Clark said.

"What? But pops, I've never met this Warhawk guy until tonight." Terry pointed out.

"You didn't know him as Warhawk back then Terry. Back then you knew him as someone else." Bruce said and walked over to the book shelf and pulled out the family photo album, then flipped through it until he got to the page he wanted and showed it to his son. "There, see? Do you remember this boy?"

Terry looked closely at the picture his panjo was pointing at, and felt a sudden wave of nostalgia. It was a picture him and his parents with Aunt Shayera and Uncle John at a picnic. The parents were in the background smiling while a two year old Terry was up front smiling too. And he was being held by Shayera and John's own four year old son.

"Of course I remember. It's a picture of us with Aunt Shayera, Uncle John and their kid Rex. I haven't seen him in a real long time. But what does he have to do with Warhawk?" Terry asked.

"Plenty, son. You actually met Rex again. He _is_ Warhawk." Clark stated.

The sound of a record scratching went off in Terry's head at this. He whipped his head around to see the paused frame of Warhawk on the screen, then whipped it back to look down the picture of the little boy from years holding his toddler self. The young Omega was at such a loss for words that he wasn't even making a sentence. Everything came out in fragments.

It just...it made no sense. None what so ever. How could a cute kid like this possibly turn into an A-1 asshole like the person he met tonight!? And why is he in Gotham anyway? And who the hell is Black Hand and why does he want dead bodies? Terry didn't know, but he intended to figure it out as soon as possible. Right now though it was time to focus on priorities...

"Can you ask Justin if there are any more chocolate chip oatmeal cookies I can have with my hot chocolate?" Terry asked in a defeated, tired tone to his parents who nodded in sympathy.

 _ **To be continued...**_


	2. Tomorrow's Dark Knight Pt2

_**Previously on Batman Beyond: The Heir...**_

 _ **"All set then, little master?" Justin asked.**_

 _ **"Yes. I'll be doing patrols until eleven thirty. Not that I'm hoping to actually get here at any time before midnight of course." Batman said as he used his palm top computer to activate the Batmobile and open the entry skylight.**_

 _ **"I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, little master. Now get out there and kick some ass." Justin said as he took his seat at the Bat Computer.**_

 **=====Previously=====** ** _  
_"Yo, you guys sure we should be doing this?" Asked one punk with multiple tattoos along his arms.**

 **"What are you talkin' about, TJ?" Asked the second with hair dyed in a wild blend of orange and blue that was cut into a fade.**

 **"I'm talkin' about this job, Marty. I mean don't any of yous feel uneasy about disturbing people's graves?" Asked TJ again.**

 **======Previously=====** ** _  
"Who the hell are you guys!?" Asked the dual dyed punk Marty in a demanding voice._**

 _ **"Well, since the insignia on my uniform isn't an obvious enough giveaway, I'll tell you. I myself happen to be a Green Lantern and the junior lieutenant in charge of the Milky Way sector that Earth is apart of" Spoke the bald teen in a calm voice.**_

 _ **"And as for me, you can call me your insurance adjuster. Because if you don't tell us what we want to know you guys are sure going to need one. Now I'll only ask once; where is Black Hand?" The hawk-like male demanded in question.**_

 **=====Previously=====**

 ** _"Warhawk, perhaps it would be best if we regroup and ponder on Batman's offer. As it stands there's nothing more we can do here. And we could use a good night's rest." Kai-Ro said. For a moment Warhawk said nothing, then he slowly picked himself up and brushed himself off._**

 ** _"Fine, whatever. As long as I can get away from the fruit bat here. And don't think for a minute this is over, Bats. Next time I'll make good on my promise and make you move." Warhawk said and with that he flew off, even without his Green Lantern ally._**

 **=====Previously=====**

 ** _"You didn't know him as Warhawk back then Terry. Back then you knew him as someone else." Bruce said and walked over to the book shelf and pulled out the family photo album, then flipped through it until he got to the page he wanted and showed it to his son. "There, see? Do you remember this boy?"_**

 ** _"Of course I remember. It's a picture of us with Aunt Shayera, Uncle John and their kid Rex. I haven't seen him in a real long time. But what does he have to do with Warhawk?" Terry asked._**

 ** _"Plenty, son. You actually met Rex again. He is Warhawk." Clark stated._**

 **=====Present=====**

 _Neo Gotham, Tuesday 1:35PM. Hill High School..._

Since the great revelation his parents gave about Warhawk last night, Terry has been in a semi-shock state and has been going through the day on autopilot. He just couldn't believe that he once knew the knot-head hero as the nice kid of Uncle John and Aunt Shayera. Of course he's still their kid, but nice is a subjective word at this current point. Now though he had to wonder if Rex knew that he was the one underneath that cowl when they first came to blows. He seemed to know of the Knight of Tomorrow but he didn't seem to who the knight was. And if Rex truly doesn't know that Terry is the Batman then he will have to reveal his identity to him, if they were going to work together on this strange grave robbing case. The young vigilante remembered a time in his training when he asked Uncle Ryan why heroes have to tell each other their secret identities and he says that it's an occupational obligation. That, the shrinking scientist added, and it spares the time for making origin introductions in the middle of a mission. While he could understand the logic he still felt rather unsettled about it. Especially when he learned from his panjo what Rex's secondary gender was; Alpha.

Don't misunderstand, Terry is in no way sexist! However years of being the target of selfish people trying to use marriage proposals as a way to get his family's money and opportunistic kidnappers has made him rather wary of Alphas. And the artificial Alpha pheromones made him smell like an Alpha. So what will Rex think when he learns that the Alpha who flipped him over was actually an Omega? And would that further put them on the wrong foot?

"Terry!" Called out the voice of Dana, which interrupted Terry from his train of thought.

"Huh? What?" Terry questioned in confusion.

"Ah, there you are. Thought we lost you for a minute. You were getting your books for the next classes but you stopped moving." Dana explained.

"Yeah, WK. You've been standing here for the past three minutes." Max added. Terry blinked before looking to see that he was still standing at his locker, and his hand was gripped onto his history and math books.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, girls. I was just thinking." Terry said.

"We could see that. But what were you thinking so hard about that you were practically on pause?" Dana asked.

"It's a little...complicated to explain. But I'll get over it. I'm fine, really." Terry said and gave a smile to prove his point. Though neither Dana nor Max really bought it they let it slide for the moment.

"Alright, Terr, but just remember you can talk to us about it if it gets too complicated." Max said, and the sound of the bell for the next class was a welcomed sound for Terry because it meant he didn't have to say anymore.

"Talk about saved by the bell." Terry thought to himself with an internal sigh of relief.

The school day went on from there, but this time Terry was paying more attention to it and was no longer on autopilot. By the time school was over he immediately headed back home to Wayne Manor. Pops and panjo said that they would call over someone to explain things with Rex. He had no idea who that someone was but he sure hoped this person could shed a little light on things. After half an hour of driving Terry finally made it home and was greeted to the sight of Justin playing catch with Krypto and Ace. The paprika-pepper haired butler looked up and walked over towards Terry as he rolled down the window, giving his usual bow of greeting.

"Hello, little master. We're glad to see you home." Justin said. Suddenly Ace and Krypto ran up to the car and began licking Terry's face through the open window. "Heh, and they're especially glad."

"So I see. It's great to see you boys too. Did pops and panjo come in yet?" Terry asked as he stepped out of the car and petted the heads of his two dogs.

"Yes, they arrived shortly before you. And they say that the person who they called will come soon enough. They're in the cave below." Justin said.

"Alright. I really hope we can figure out just what's going." Terry said.

"I'm sure you will, Terry. I'll take in the hover Cord. You just head down below." Justin said and took the car keys while Terry went into the manor house with Ace and Krypto on opposite sides of him.

Taking the usual route through the secret passage behind the Grandfather Clock, the Bat Cave was already alight with a blue colored hue from the many turned on monitors and lights. And down below he could see his parents at the Bat Computer, his panjo typing away at the keyboard and his pops standing beside him. Both parents turned to see their son and smiled at him.

"Hello, Terry. How was school today?" Bruce asked.

"Fine. I kinda fast forward through the day since I'm still surprised about Rex being Warhawk." Terry said.

"I get that. I know I was surprised by a lot of identity revelations myself in the day. Some of them, in fact, I still can't get over. Like how your cousin Billy is Captain Marvel." Clark said in a reminiscent tone.

"One would think that the fact they both were bouncing on their feet when you talked to them would be a tip off." Bruce said with a look of sarcastic amusement.

"Yeah, you would think..." Clark said with a chuckle.

"So, who is this person that will tell us about the intricate details of Rex's life over the years?" Terry asked.

"Aw little twilight, don't tell me you've forgotten me." Said a new voice that made Terry swivel his head around to the source.

When he saw who it was, as the person walked down the stairs, he gasped in shock. It was the White Lantern and his extended hero family cousin, Kyle Rayner. After he evolved into the true Lantern he was meant to be Kyle continued his work as a superhero even though he's now in his fifties. And even when he doesn't wear the pristine white mask of life he still uses his empathetic essence in his artist work, like when he's helping to cheer up other aspiring artists who feel down in their careers or comforting victims of a violent crime whenever he attends court trials and draws his news sketches. He still works for the Daily Planet in Metropolis and is one of Clark's top artists.

In terms of his secondary gender, Kyle is actually a rare specimen. Even rarer than Omegas. The White Lantern is a Sigma which is a non-binary secondary gender that is one third Alpha, one third Beta and one third Omega. What makes the Sigma so rare is that, on average, one to three Sigmas are born every ten years and usually from inter-mated families with an even blend of Omega, Beta and Alpha relatives. The way they present is also a wild card since they can either go into bossy, violent mood swings like Alphas, have overnight growth spurts like Betas or false-heat fevers like Omegas. Both female and male Sigmas are able to reproduce among themselves and with the more binary subcategory genders. Because their numbers are so small, with them only reaching a number of five hundred while Omegas reach one thousand, Sigmas have to register when they present. But even with that they are still a mystery to doctors and behavioral analysts and in some parts of the world have yet to be declared an official fourth subcategory gender.

"Cousin Kyle!" Terry exclaimed joyfully and ran up to the White Lantern, hugging him tightly as he got to the bottom of the stairs. Kyle chuckled as he returned the hug with equal affection.

"Hey Terry. Watch the back though. I don't have super bones like your old man." Kyle said and took a step back to get a better look at Terry. "Wow, just look at you. It's like you drank a bowl of beauty products. You must have people falling over their feet."

"Well usually yes, considering I kick them when they try something funny." Terry said with a smirk.

"I'd chuckle at that if I didn't know who's son you are and that you're more than likely serious." Kyle said, giving Bruce a knowing glance.

"I'll pretend I didn't catch up on that innuendo. It's great seeing you Kyle. How was the art conference in Rome?" Bruce asked.

"Oh it was fantastic. I even got the chance to do a little collaboration with one of my favorite artists. And no crazy, art themed villains tried to ruin it so that was a plus." Kyle said.

"Glad to hear it. So then, are you ready to tell us about how things are with Rex?" Clark asked.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry for not calling and telling you guys this before, but I didn't think following Black Hand would bring Rex and Kai-Ro here to Gotham. Then again considering who else this involves I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised." Kyle said.

"What are you talking about, Kyle? What's going on? And who is this Black Hand guy anyway?" Terry asked, now more confused than ever.

"Well first off Terry, Black Hand's real name is William Hand." Clark said and typed at the keyboard of the Bat Computer then pulled up the complete background file on William Hand. "He worked in his family's business Hand Mortuary and had a disturbing fascination with dead bodies. And unknown to him the necromancer alien Atrocitus was stalking him. Apparently William had a large amount of the Power of the Black and Atrocitus wanted to claim it for himself."

"Power of the Black?" Terry asked in confusion.

"It's the source of energy for Black Lanterns, who are undead necromancers themselves." Bruce explained.

At hearing that term, Black Lanterns, Terry's face took on a horrified expression. _Now_ he remembered why the name Black Hand felt like something he should know! There was a time when Uncle Hal Jordan told him a story from his greatest, most difficult battle with a Black Lantern known as Black Hand. But it was so long ago that he had just about forgotten it.

"From the look on your face, it seems like you remember Hal telling you about Black Hand before." Clark said.

"Yeah...But, even then I thought he was just telling me a ghost story. I mean the Yellow Lanterns of fear are one thing...but Lanterns that raise the dead..." Terry trailed off, looking rather stunned.

"I know, little twilight. I wish it wasn't true same as you. But the terrible fact is that it is. And...your parents were vessels of the Black Lantern Corps for a short time along with some of the other heroes." Kyle said with a gesture towards Bruce and Clark.

This made Terry regard his parents with a shocked, heartbroken expression and he covered his mouth to stop a gasp. The mere mental image of his parents being malevolent reanimated corpses left him feeling physically ill to where he thought he would topple over. Sensing this Ace and Krypto braced themselves against their young ward to keep him from falling and to provide comfort to him.

"Panjo...Pops..." Terry let out as his azure eyes shined with tears threatening to fall out.

"Terry, it was only for a short time like Kyle. We were brought back to life, thanks to him. It was only for that moment." Bruce assured his son, standing up as if to show him he was alright.

"Yeah, kid. And nothing like that has ever happened since. We swear it." Clark added in equal assurance. This seemed to calm Terry down before he got really upset. After taking a deep breath he regained his composure a bit, letting out a once anxious breath.

"Alright, alright...Well as long as there's nothing wrong with you guys now. So, how did William become a Black Lantern anyway?" Terry asked.

"It was during the time when Sinestro was still a Green Lantern. He and Hal saved William from Atrocitus the Cosmic Divining Rod was left behind. William took it and from there things went down hill from there. He quickly went from a lame, gimmick villain to a madman after he used the Divining Rod to kill his entire family then used it on himself." Clark explained.

"That's when things got real ugly. A corrupted Guardian of the Black known as Scar appeared and spewed out a Black Power Ring then reanimated William. After that he was able to utilize the Power of the Black and became worse dead than when he was alive. Now he only goes by the name Black Hand, and he's unfortunately back in action." Kyle explained.

"Wow, that's really heavy. But you said something about someone else being involved." Terry pointed out.

"Yes. Black Hand has recently revived someone to join the ranks of the Black Lantern Corps. It's Joseph Blackfire." Kyle said.

"Damn it. Of all people to resurrect it would be him." Bruce groaned.

"Joseph Blackfire? Wasn't he that cult leader hypocrite who worked from the sewers you tangled with a few times?" Terry asked, looking over to his panjo's mementos of his past escapades as the Dark Knight to see a false bible and a sacrificial dagger in a glass case.

"Yes. Back then he was called Deacon Blackfire, but very much like Rasputin he was far from a holy man. And also like him he had a knack for longevity and has lived for at least a century. He died when his followers saw him for the charlatan he was and they killed him." Bruce explained.

"With someone as driven by their insane ideals as Blackfire, he's a perfect candidate for the Black Lanterns." Clark said with a shake of his head.

"And that's the problem. We have to stop Black Hand from recruiting anymore Black Lanterns and restarting the Corps. And that's why I suspect Blackfire led Black Hand here. To raise an army of undead from a Gotham graveyard." Kyle explained.

"That must be what those punks I busted were talking about. Black Hand hired them to dig up certain bodies from an old graveyard. He used a different name when he talked to them and didn't say what he wanted the bodies for. Now I almost wish I didn't know." Terry said.

"Hmm, that would make a lot of sense. Terry didn't you say you got a map from them when you caught them?" Clark asked.

"Yeah! But there are no names or any specific markers on it. Just outlines like in blueprints. I actually forgot all about it and kept it in my utility belt." Terry said as he pressed a button on the Bat Computer to summon his wardrobe turnstile, then removed the folded up map piece from his belt and handed it to Bruce. "This is it. But I don't know how it can help us."

Bruce accepted the map and looked it over, brows furrowing in thought. Suddenly his brows rose to the top of his hair line and he had a sharp intake of breath. Terry was about to ask what was wrong before Bruce rushed over to the other side of the Cave, and rummaged through a file cabinet with his old paper documents. After a while he seemed to find what he was looking for and rushed over to a table near by and laid down both the map and whatever he pulled out from the cabinet.

"Bruce, what's the matter!?" Clark asked in worry as he walked over.

"Panjo, what is it? Do you know what that map is?" Terry asked.

"Yes, and I wish to God that I didn't. This is a draft map of the worst building to ever have been made in Gotham's history...Blackgate Prison." Bruce said ominously.

Everyone gasped in shock as they looked at the map Terry gave to Bruce and the paper document, which was also a map, that he placed beside it on the table. The map Bruce pulled out had the very same outlines of the map Terry got from those punks. And on the map Bruce had was a layout of Blackgate Prison.

"My God. That den of nightmares has kept thousands of Gotham's worst locked up." Clark said in a worried tone.

"And all of them were executed here. If Black Hand and Deacon Blackfire raise them from their graves they'll be able to unleash mass terror as Black Lanterns." Bruce explained with a frustrated, concerned expression.

"That's not happening, Panjo. Not as long as I protect this city." Terry swore, looking at his Omega parent with a determined expression.

"I don't doubt you, Terry, but you can't go this alone. Black Hand and Deacon Blackfire are dangerous on their own, and together they would be a match made in hell. You'll need someone to help you." Bruce said.

"If you don't mind, Bruce, I have two someones in mind." Kyle said and walked over to the staircase, then called out two names. "Rex, Kai-Ro."

There was no reply for a moment, until the Wayne-Kent family heard the sound of footsteps coming down. Regular footsteps and armor clinking were what they heard. And sure enough the names Kyle called out were the two people who appeared, Rex Stewart and Kai-Ro with Justin Stypes following behind them. Both were still in their hero wear, however Rex had taken off his helmet. With it gone Terry could see an older version of the boy who once held him as a toddler. And he looked...different. A good kind of different that he couldn't eloquently describe. Suddenly Rex, who was also looking at him, spoke to him.

"So...You're the Dark Knight." Rex said rather than asked.

"Actually I prefer Knight of Tomorrow, but yeah. You don't look surprised though." Terry pointed out.

"I actually am, sort of. I figured you always knew about your folks and what they did but I didn't think the Omega son of Bruce Wayne-Kent and Clark Kent would end up playing Batman." Rex said.

At the words "the Omega" Terry felt his face take on a resentful scowl. He tried to stop it but it was an automatic reflex he makes whenever someone refers to his secondary gender. Though he quickly changed it Rex saw it none the less.

"No need to get defensive. I didn't mean that in offense." Rex stated.

"You didn't?" Terry asked, sounding calm but looking skeptical.

"No. Actually, I'm impressed by you." Rex said.

"You...are?" Terry asked, now sounding surprised.

"Of course. Some of the Lanterns from dad's old squadron are Omegas, and they're real badass. Or more specifically they whipped a lot of ass. And considering who your other father is.." Rex trailed off, looking at Bruce then looking back at Terry. "I guess it's no surprise how you got to be who you are, and how you managed to flip me over. So yeah, I'm impressed."

"I see...Well, that's certainly not the response I was expecting from you. Especially after how we met." Terry said honestly.

"I don't blame you for feeling that way. I acted like a real knot-head before. Kyle always did say I got the famous Thanagarian temper from my mom's side. It's not the easiest thing for me to do, apologizing. But if you still want my help in this I'm willing to give it to you." Rex said.

"As am I, Terrance. The Green Lantern Corps are always willing to help a fellow hero." Kai-Ro said. Terry looked from the two young heroes, then to Kyle and finally to his parents. After a moment he turned back to them and gave a small smile.

"Guess I won't be flying solo this time." Terry said.

And so, the younger generation of heroes flew off into the dark night of Gotham City. Batman decided that their best bet was to have a look into those grave robbing punks. There was no shortage of grave robbers in the market, and many were certainly more professional, so why pick those five ragtags?

"Maybe Black Hand picked them on short notice. We've followed him here and know he hasn't been in Gotham long." Warhawk suggested.

"Indeed. Even the most meticulous planners cannot always have their pick of the best, and must choose the most available help even if they're not competent." Kai-Ro added.

"Maybe, but I can't help but feel like he singled them out somehow. That's why we're going to do a background check on them at the Gotham City Police Department." Batman said as he flew around the corner.

"Oh yeah, she's the daughter of the first Commissioner Gordon. Guess you could say it runs the family. One generation of bat and commissioner helping another, huh?" Warhawk asked.

"You might say that." Batman said as he landed on the windowsill while Warhawk and Kai-Ro remained floating in mid air. The young vigilante silently opened the window and slipped in along with the other two heroes following in just as quietly. Barbra Gordon was standing at the coffee machine on her other table and pouring herself a cup, before turning around and was greeted by Batman.

"Hey, kid. Guess you're here about those punks you brought in." Barbra said.

"You know it, Barbra." Batman said.

"My, she is quite perceptive." Kai-Ro said with an impressed expression.

"When you've worked in the hero business, kid, you learn to expect certain thing." The lady commissioner said with a grin.

"Hero business? You mean from dealing with a Batman like your old man did?" Warhawk asked.

"No, I mean because I've _been_ in the hero business before." Barbra said.

"You have? Wait a moment...Barbra Gordon. You wouldn't happen to be Batgirl turned Oracle, would you?" Kai-Ro asked.

"No, I wouldn't happen to be that now. But in another lifetime, well, let's just say I kicked ass in real life and cyberspace." Barbra replied in a somewhat cryptic way but the two other male heroes caught on.

"Well, I guess I was right about it running in the family with you Batman. Just didn't know how close knit the family was." Warhawk said.

"The Bats are be more standoffish than the other heroes, Rex, but we've always got each other's back." Barbra said as she grabbed her mug of hot coffee and walked back to her desk.

"Wait, how did you know my..." However the half-Thanagarian stopped when he saw simple yet self-explanatory eyebrow raise from Barbra. "Right. Nevermind. Anyway we're here to ask you about those punks."

"Yes, Bruce told me all about it when you left. I pulled up each of their files after we had them processed. They're in the system, but not for anything big. Primarily their rap sheets involve petty offenses. The whole gang was released last month after serving time in the Stonegate Juvenile Detention Center for vandalism and burglary charges at a fast food joint they used to work at." Barbra said as she tapped away at her laptop, then turned it around for the three males to see each file on the five punks.

"Let's see...TJ's real name is Travis Jordan, Marty is Martin Lawson, Ripper's real name is Ramsey Charleston, Brock's full name is Brock Oakley and Gabe's full name is Gabriel Hilton." Warhawk spoke as he listed off the names.

"Looking over their files I don't see anything that really stands out." Kai-Ro as he looked over the biographies of each file.

"Yeah. They just seem like a bunch of guys who...Hey, wait a minute." Batman said as he noticed something.

"What's the matter?" Warhawk asked.

"It's something about their family backgrounds. There's a pattern. Each of them had a parent who was a cop." Batman said.

"Most troubled kids have relatives who work at some kind of law and order degree." Barbra said with a shrug.

"True. But not every one of those relatives were apart of the same squad in the precinct. It says that the parents were all part of the special GCPD squad called 'The Cleaning Crew'. I wonder..." Batman trailed off and turned on his palm-top computer then began to tap at the hard light screen.

"In a show of sarcasm, Batman, I ask you this Earth term; are you going to share with the rest of the class?" Kai-Ro asked making the young vigilante scoff in amusement.

"Funny. I'm looking up the Cleaning Crew of the GCPD on a hunch I have and...aha!" Batman exclaimed as an article came up about the group five officers. "This article says that the Cleaning Crew of the GCPD were a group of five cops apart of a corruption dragnet, and took plea bargains to testify against the other corrupted officers on the force in return for getting solitary confinement cells and a shorter sentence. They got their nickname because they would clean up evidence for criminals or other corrupted officers."

"Hm, now I remember. Dad told me about them a few times during the massive purging in the department. They made the right choice since prison is not the place for a cop to be on the other side of the bars then or now. Some of the dirty officers who didn't take plea deals didn't live through the first month of their sentences..." Barbra trailed off, face taking on a look of pity as she shook her head at the memory of the crime scene photos showing the cops gone bad laid out on cold metal tables after being stabbed or beaten to death.

"Tch, serves them right as far as I'm concerned. Dirt get's swept up one way or another." Warhawk said with an unsympathetic look.

"It's funny that you say dirt, Warhawk. The article goes on to say that after serving their sentences and retaking the police academy training again the Cleaning Crew decided to give their team name a new meaning." Batman said.

"A new meaning? In what way?" Kai-Ro asked.

"It says here that they decided to work by cleaning up crime scenes after criminal trials to make them relivable for the people who lived there. They would also perform a special task of...Oh no." Batman uttered, gasping in shock.

"What's wrong, Batman?" Barbra asked in concern.

"Yeah, what else did they do that has you making a spiz fit?" Warhawk asked.

"...They would bury the executed bodies of the inmates from Blackgate Prison." Batman said.

"Good lord, that is certainly a whole new meaning for the term clean up. But why would a specific group of people be tasked with burying executed inmates?" Kai-Ro asked.

"If you were born and raised in Gotham, kid, you'd know why. Criminals can be really crazy in this town. And when it comes to gang followers they're especially off the charts. Some would take the bodies of their dead leaders post them outside their hideouts. Others would even go as far as to eat them for some crazy ritual. We couldn't afford to be too careful." Barbra explained.

"So the Gotham Police Department's resident Cleaning Crew would bury the bodies of executed Blackgate Prison inmates secretly so that no one else would know..." Warhawk thoughtfully surmised.

"And what better place to hide the bodies of those executed inmates than on prison grounds? After all many prisons take those bodies away to mortuaries to be cremated or buried in other locations. No one would think to look there." Kai-Ro added.

"Then they wrote down the names of the executed inmates they buried on an outline map of Blackgate. It's most likely that the squad members told their sons all about this and where to find the bodies through the use of the map." Batman said.

"So _that's_ why Black Hand picked them specifically, and was willing to pay so much! They had the information he needed." Warhawk said with great surprise.

"That's quite a morbid legacy to leave behind, and it certainly makes the term 'knowing where the bodies are buried' a literal one. And Black Hand is just the type of person who would take full advantage of that legacy." Kai-Ro said.

"We have to hurry and talk to these guys. Commissioner, where are they now?" Batman asked.

"In hold up still. I'll have them sent up." Barbra said and tapped the screen of her office monitor phone and soon the image of a young officer appeared on the screen. "Officer Smith, bring up those young prisoners who we brought in last night from the Brideshead neighborhood."

 _ **"Actually, Commissioner Gordon, I'm afraid that won't be possible."**_ Officer Smith replied.

"What do you mean that won't be possible? We just brought them in last night." Barbra said, looking surprised.

 _ **"Well, ma'am, their public defender from the courthouse came in and arranged their one thousand credit bail. They left fifteen minutes ago, give or take a minute more."**_ Officer Smith explained.

"That's strange. I know they made their phone call to the courthouse for a lawyer, but I didn't think it would be that quick." Barbra said, stroking her chin in thought.

 _ **"I know, Commissioner. It seemed pretty odd to me also. But the guy's ID an license all seemed legit and his credit payment for the bail passed through without incident. There was one odd thing, though."**_ Officer Smith said.

"And what was that?" The lady commissioner asked.

 _ **"When the lawyer came to the holding cells and went to the cell those punk kids were in, they all started to freak a little. I couldn't figure out why though. You'd think they'd be happy to not only get a lawyer so fast and to get their bail posted."**_ Officer Smith said.

The more the officer nonchalantly explained what transpired not too long ago, the more Batman felt that old sense of suspicion kick in. And when he looked at Warhawk and Kai-Ro they also seemed to find this suspicious. There was something off about this whole thing. Batman walked closer to Barbra's desk and whispered to her to ask the officer a certain question. The older woman nodded and looked back at her officer.

"Smith, could you by any chance describe how this lawyer looked?" Barbra asked.

 _ **"Oh sure, I'll never forget how he looked either. He had dead white skin and black eyes like marble. And his hair was slicked back and looked like tire tracks in the mud. But the two weirdest things about him was that he kept his right hand tucked in his coat pocket, and that he smelled like the morgue when the AC is down."**_ Officer Smith explained.

At hearing this the heroes shared another look. And this time it was one of alarmed horror. That description sounded far too much like Black Hand. And if the young punks freaked out about it then that probably meant the deathly Lantern had certain plans for them that wouldn't be good. Barbra seemed to think the same thing and asked Officer Smith another important, and possibly life or death, question.

"Smith, now this is very important; did this 'lawyer' say where they were going to go?" Barbra asked with a hint of urgency.

 _ **"No, he didn't. But he said that he would take his clients back home. Whatever home is for them, though, is beyond me."**_ Officer Smith said, then his face changed from calm to concerned. _**"Commissioner, why are you asking me all this? Was that guy not really a lawyer? If he wasn't I swear to God I didn't know."**_

"I know you didn't, Smith. I'm not blaming you. But next time remember to call the courthouse and confirm the identity of lawyer who comes in. Tell your squad and two others to be on stand by. Something tells me that this is going to be a long night." Barbra said.

"Yes, ma'am. Officer Smith out." And with that the video call ended.

"Well that was a very distressing call, but still enlightening. Black Hand said he was going to take TJ and his friends home. You found them in the Brideshead neighborhood, so maybe that's what he meant. What do you think...?" Barbra looked up to try and see what Batman or his fellow heroes would say, but was instead greeted to an empty room. At this she gave a chuckle and looked at the framed picture of her late father James Gordon on her desk. "That kid is a regular Mini-Bruce, dad."

Meanwhile, Batman was flying through the skies at breakneck speed with Warhawk and Kai-Ro at either side of him. Apparently the Knight of Tomorrow caught onto Black Hand's cryptic comment about taking the young punks back home. And without waiting for Barbra to finish talking to her officer he bolted out of the window. Warhawk and Kai-Ro were shocked by his hasty leave but got over the shock to fly after him, then eventually catch up with him.

"Hey! I love an impromptu fly race as much as anyone, but at least do a count down so that a guy can be mentally prepared!" Warhawk shouted to Batman at his left.

"Sorry about that. I'll set my timer for you next time." Batman replied sarcastically.

"If you reacted like this, it stands to reason that you know where Black Hand took the hooligans after bailing them out." Kai-Ro said.

"Yes. I found them in Brideshead and they went to that old apartment complex on Sorrow Street. It's a long shot but it's our only best shot. I only hope that we make it there in time." Batman said and boosted the power in his jet boots to give him some extra flying power while Warhawk flapped his nth metal wings harder and Kai-Ro literally used the power of his will to catch up.

It took less than three minutes for the heroes to make it to the Brideshead neighborhood and reach Sorrow Street. But just before they could assess whether or not Black Hand and the punks were in there a flash of darkness, like black tar, could be seen through the windows. And not long after that They saw a mass of black shoot through the roof and fly away. Despite that they could still make out the figure in that dark shroud.

"Black Hand..." Kai-Ro let out in horror.

"Yeah. And now he's going to be black and blue!" Warhawk stated and started to chase after Black Hand but was stopped by Batman.

"Warhawk, no! You can't face off someone like Black Hand on your own. You'll be killed!" Batman stated.

"That's just fine by me! I'm not afraid to die anymore than my parents were!" Warhawk replied. The comment made Batman's eyes widen in shock. And he was in such a surprised state that it allowed Warhawk to pull away from his hold and fly after the deathly Lantern.

"Damn it! Kai-Ro, go into that building and see if anyone is hurt. I'm going to help Warhawk." Batman said.

"Of course, and be careful!" Kai-Ro called as he flew straight into the run down complex while the young vigilante flew after the Warhawk.

Meanwhile Warhawk was flying as fast as his nth metal wings could carry him, perhaps even faster than that. But he didn't care if he was going beyond their limitations. All he could think of was sinking the armored talons on his fingers into the arm of the hand his Black Power Ring was attached to and rip it clean off his body. And he was just within a foot of accomplishing this until he was suddenly struck in the side by a blast of ray that made him feel as though some of his life essence was literally drained from him. Warhawk tumbled in the air from the resulting attack and immediately righted himself so that he could hover straight. And when he turned his head up to see who shot him he saw that the perpetrator was a Black Lantern, who was no doubt the once deceased Joseph Blackfire. The man's overall body looked like a skeleton with wrinkly, pale flesh colored skin stretched tightly over it's bones and glowing red dots for eyes in the sockets and his hair was ghostly white. On the ring finger of his left hand was the Black Power Ring which was still emitting that black tar colored aura, after having just used it to shoot the half-Thanagarian. Looking at the black mass Warhawk watched as the large ball of shadowy essence diminished and revealed the person inside it. And that person was the cause of all this; Black Hand.

"Well, well. If it isn't dear young Warhawk. I'm beginning to wonder if you're a vulture though if you're going to chase after an old Lantern like me." Black Hand said with a grin.

"You don't deserve to be called a Lantern, Black Hand, and I'll hunt you down like any raptor-wing if it means taking you down!" Warhawk stated.

"Don't let yourself be phased by the opinion of unenlightened youth, Black Hand. He is beneath us by the mere fact that he is against our righteous cause." Blackfire said, and even though he was what amounted to a skeleton with just skin and no flesh he could still pull off his high and mighty expression.

"Tch. Even as a zombie you're still the same zealot as before, Blackfire." Said a new voice and Warhawk turned to see that Batman arrived on the scene.

"Your childishly droll remarks mean nothing to me, Batman. I am above the limitations of mere mortal men now. I belong to a higher power that will swoop all of Gotham before moving on to other lands and wipe out the ignorant who dare to oppose us in our righteous quest." Blackfire spoke passionately as if he were truly a holy deacon when he wasn't.

"You're the ignorant one if you think we're gonna to let you get away with raising thousands of Blackgate Prison inmates from the dead." Warhawk stated.

"Ah, so you've figured out my grand plan. Or part of it, at least." Black Hand said.

"What do you mean part of it?" Batman asked.

"I mean that bringing forth a new age of lethal Black Lanterns is only half of what I have in store for this miserable universe. With our resurrection I will bring back our Guardian of the Black that is Scar. And from our rings of darkness she will not only rise from the ashes but will gain power like never before. And together the Black Lantern Corps unleash a fresh hell that Lord Nekron would be proud of." Black Hand explained, a nefarious and mad grin spreading across his face.

"The hell that's going to happen!" Warhawk shouted as he charged at Black Hand, talons on both of his armored fingers unsheathed and ready to slash him to ribbons.

Black Hand, however, was unimpressed and merely fired a ray from his power ring while Blackfire formed a hard light blackened scythe and charged at Batman. Warhawk was prepared for the oncoming attack this time and used his nth metal wings to shield himself. The alloy deflected the deathly ray and made it shoot right at Black Hand, and he charged at him again while slashing at the Black Lantern. Meanwhile Batman was dodging Blackfire's scythe as he swung it at him with evil intent. Tightly gripping his fists the knuckles on his gloves hardened and slowly nth metal armor covered them and he started hitting back with heavy punches and uppercuts. The fight seemed like it would go on until the Gotham Clock Tower rang loudly once it hit the 10PM hour. This seemed to catch Blackfire and Black Hand's attention as they suddenly stopped attacking the heroes and looked over at the clock tower, as if to see it was really ten o'clock PM. And when they saw it was they gasped.

"Damn, we've wasted too much time here! We have to hurry and start the ceremony!" Black Hand stated.

"Indeed. Our greatest triumph is close at hand and we must accomplish it now if we are to ascend to our goal." Blackfire said.

"You two aren't going anywhere but the Oa Prison." Warhawk said.

"I don't think so, my little winged friend. The fact of the matter is, you and the Bat are going to let us go on our merry way." Black Hand said.

"Oh really? And why do you think that?" Batman asked.

At this, Black Hand gave a grin and pulled out something from behind his back and revealed it to be a remote detonator. Before either hero could move to stop him he pressed the button on the remote and a loud explosion just about broke the sound barrier. The turned their heads to see where the explosion happened and gasped in horror at seeing that it was the run down apartment complex that exploded. The same one that Kai-Ro just went into. And it was going from a neglected tower building to a crumbling heap right before their very eyes...

"That's why. I hope the midget Lantern is alright, if he's not already green eggs and ham. So long!" And with a mocking laugh Black Hand flew away with Blackfire at his side.

As much as Warhawk and Batman wanted to follow them they couldn't. Kai-Ro and anyone else who was in that building needed their help. So they flew over and the half-Thanagarian used his artificial wings to flap away the dust while the young vigilante used his cowl's Detective Mode to try and scan for any heat signatures. After a while he found several of them, about six, all the way down at the bottom of the rubble. Immediately Batman and Warhawk flew down and once they got a good view of what was below they saw Kai-Ro had formed a hard light green shield around him and several people. Once the last of the rubble fell he let the shield down, sighing in relief.

"Well, that was definitely a close if I ever experienced one." Kai-Ro said.

"You can say that again. Are you all okay?" Batman asked, looking over the young Green Lantern and the civilians.

"Yes. These two ladies were living as squatters in the building, and these four men here were walking past the building when the explosion happened." Kai-Ro explained.

"What about TJ and his friends?" Batman asked. At this Kai-Ro looked down solemnly and shook his head.

"I'm afraid...that they won't be able to assist us very much." Kai-Ro said and used his ring to move aside a pile of rubble just a short distance away.

Warhawk and Batman walked over to see what was under the pile, and immediately they felt their stomachs turn in disgusted horror. All five of the punks were absolutely drained of their life force. Their bodies were wrinkled up grey husks and their eyes looked like white plastic balls with little black dots drawn on them. It was a sad sight to see and Batman lowered his head in respect.

"Poor kids. And TJ said they would get their acts together. I felt that they really would, too." Batman said.

"Yeah...It really makes me feel bad for scaring him with that airshow now." Warhawk said, looking very remorseful. Kai-Ro frowned at the melancholy mood his fellow heroes radiated and walked over to stand by them.

"As tragic as this is, we cannot allow ourselves to stop now. We have to stop Blackfire and Black Hand before all of those executed inmates are resurrected along with the corrupted Guardian Scar. We owe TJ and his friends that much." Kai-Ro said.

"I know. But with anyone of them alive we don't have a clue on where to start. Blackgate Prison has a lot of ground to cover and if this ceremony is operating on a time limit we don't have very long to figure out where Black Hand is going to start it and stop him." Batman said in a tone filled with frustration. Warhawk nodded in agreement when suddenly his sharp eyes caught onto something. Something that was peeking out from TJ's jacket pocket.

"Hello..." Warhawk muttered and bent down to pull out the foreign item in TJ's jacket.

"What is it?" Kai-Ro asked.

"A piece of paper with a message written on it. But it doesn't make any sense. All it says is 'Brighten the map over, not under, to make the truth visible'. What the hell could that mean?" Warhawk asked. Batman narrowed his eyes in thought for a moment before they grew in realization.

"Wait...I think I may have an idea about that. It was something panjo used to send secret messages to other heroes back in the day while he was in hiding." Batman said and activated his palmtop computer. "Bat Computer, look up invisible ink."

 **"** **Invisible ink – a writing compound used in pens. Quite the rage from the early 70's to the late 2020 era, invisible ink was often used as a way of pranking friends or sending coded messages to soldiers in times of war. One way to reveal text made from invisible ink was to heat up the paper above a hot light bulb or stove."** The female mechanical voice explained.

"Ah, so that's it. TJ must have made this note to give to us. And if his note refers to the map outline of the prison..." Kai-Ro trailed off.

"...Then it must have the location of where all the bodies are buried!" Warhawk exclaimed.

"Exactly. Panjo, did you get all of that?" Batman asked over the comm-link as he turned it on to speaker so Warhawk and Kai-Ro could hear.

 _"Loud and clear, Terry. Your father is already using his heat vision while Kyle holds up the map. And something is starting to appear."_ Bruce said to his son.

"Absolutely schway! What's on it?" Batman asked.

 _"Hm...It's a fully detailed layout describing a sub-basement just below the original basement itself. And it's located on the east wing of the prison where the Industrial complex used to be."_ Bruce explained.

"Perfect. Thanks a lot, Panjo. I promise to call you when this is all over." Batman said.

 _"You better call back. Good luck, Terry."_ Bruce spoke tenderly before hanging up.

"Great, now that we know where they are let's get going. If we start flying now we might make it to stop Black Hand and Black Fire." Warhawk said as he flapped his artificial wings to get off the ground.

"Might is too late, and Blackgate is way too far off just for flying on our own. We'll take my hover car." Batman said as he tapped away at his palmtop computer.

"What hover car?" Kai-Ro asked, and almost immediately he heard the distinct 'whooshing' sound of a flying vehicle right above their heads and looked up to see the Hover Batmobile. The legendary ride landed right before them and the hatch opened from the top. "Oh, _that_ hover car..."

In a flash, the futuristic car sped off to the location where the old Blackgate Prison used to. It was technically called Old Blackgate since the prison had become so run down and faulty that inmates had to be moved to a new location called New Blackgate. However only the live inmates were taken. The buried bodies of executed inmates were left in their graves. Little did the old Cleaning Crew of the Gotham police know that in doing so they left an army ripe for Black Hand to resurrect years later. But there was no use fussing over an act that would hold unforeseeable consequences. Now they could only stop Black Hand from accomplishing his plan. If provided, that, that they have enough time to stop him.

The Hover Batmobile made a silent landing in some dense shrubbery just a few yards away from the entrance of Blackgate's old industrial complex. Batman, Kai-Ro and Warhawk all exited from the vehicle and looked upon the shabby, broken down complex of the prison's east wing. Once this was a hustle and bustle place where prisoners could learn a trade. Now it's the place where acts unholy and sacrilegious are about to be committed.

"So what is our plan of action?" Kai-Ro asked.

"I say we go down there and nail Black Hand, Blackfire and whoever else is with them all at once." Warhawk stated.

"Too risky. We should wait along the sidelines figure out just how the ceremony is going to start, and see who or what we have to take out to stop it." Batman said.

"So we watch our prey and then strike...Hm, I like the sound of that." Warhawk said.

"I would think so, since hawks like to strike when rats least expect it." Batman said with a grin, and Warhawk actually grinned back at the remark.

"Heh, touche on that. So how do we team up?" Warhawk asked.

"We start off in a team, then once we get to the sub-basement we split up in different spots to attack at different sides." Batman said.

"A good plan of attack. Let's get going then." Warhawk said.

The group of three entered into the Industrial complex with Batman leading the way, using the downloaded schematics to show them the right directions. They took several many turns and went down a seemingly endless flight of stairs until they reached the basement. And after a bit of looking the found the poorly hidden door of the sub-basement, the latch of which Batman could tell was ripped off.

"Looks like Black Hand and Blackfire have already made it here." Batman said. Kai-Ro used his ring to scan for residual Black Lantern aura and let out a thoughtful hum.

"The energy left here isn't that old. I don't think they went through this door too long ago. Which could also mean that we still have time to stop them." Kai-Ro said.

"I hope so. Kai-Ro, I want you to lead on from here and light the way forward. Me and Warhawk will be right behind you." Batman said.

"Of course." The bald teen said with a nod and lit up his ring before going down the stairs with the slightly older heroes following close behind.

"What'll we do if they managed to raise a few of those executed inmates?" Warhawk asked to Batman in a low voice.

"Put them back underground, plus an extra six feet." Batman replied simply.

"Tch, like father like son. Seems like we both got something from our folks – I got mom's temper and your got Bruce's well...his personality." Warhawk said with a grin and the young vigilante grinned back.

"Touche on that. And now that you mention folks, I wanted to ask you something. Before when you started chasing after Black Hand earlier, you said you weren't afraid to die anymore than Uncle John and Aunt Shayera were. What did you mean by that?" Batman asked.

At this, Warhawk's grin immediately flattened and he looked away. Not in shame, but like he didn't want to face the proverbial truth. Then after a while he turned his head back to give Batman a sideways glance of somber seriousness.

"...Exactly what I meant. They weren't afraid to die as heroes, and neither am I." Warhawk said.

"That's just it, though. I don't get the dead part. Pops and Panjo said that Uncle John and Aunt Shayera went missing after a mission on the planet Apokolips. They're still looking for them to this day, too." Batman said, and Warhawk gave a humorless scoff.

"Kyle told me the same thing, after he took me in along with Kai-Ro. But I know the truth even though he and everyone else tried to hide it from me." Warhawk spoke cryptically.

"Hide the truth? What are you talking...?" But Batman's question was stopped short when Kai-Ro tapped him on the arm to get his attention.

"They're here." Kai-Ro whispered lowly and pointed around the corner.

Deciding to drop the matter until later, the Knight of Tomorrow peeked around the corner along with Kai-Ro and Warhawk. There they saw a large room the size of a lobbying space with red candles lit up to provide an eerie light. There were planks of wood with names of the prisoners sloppily written on them placed atop mounds of dirt. Black Hand stood behind a stone altar on one end of the room while Blackfire was at the other end, a large hard light shadowy shovel in his hands.

"Are you ready to begin the ceremony and raise our brethren and Guardian, Blackfire?" Black Hand asked.

"Yes. It would have been easier to have those misguided, mortal youths big up the bodies for us though. However they knew too much that could have been revealed to the demon clad in black and his allies. So if I must perform a little hard labor to help bring forth the new era God seeks, then I shall dig like a mongrel dog seeking sustenance." Blackfire said and used his ring to command the large shovel to dig up every other grave among the thousands there, which probably belonged to the worst of the worst from Old Blackgate.

"Good, but dig like a fast mongrel dog. We have to raise all forty bodies of Blackgate's most infamous inmates before eleven thirty." Black Hand said.

"Eleven thirty? That's ten minutes from now. " Kai-Ro said.

"Then it seems to me that we have to put on the best ten minute distraction we can manage." Warhawk said.

"I agree. Anyone have any ideas?" Batman asked.

"Well, they don't seem to be very concerned with darkness so putting out the lights won't work. But...maybe we could add to the light." Warhawk suggested, stroking his chin in thought.

"That can be arranged. And maybe I'll take Blackfire out for some night air. If you don't mind that is, Batman." Kai-Ro said, clenching his first with his power ring on making it glow and giving a grin.

"Be our guest. We'll entertain Black Hand in the mean time." Batman replied.

Needing no further prompting, Kai-Ro formed a rope from his ring and made it slither over to Blackfire's ankle. Just as the undead man was about to dig up the fortieth grave the rope wrapped around his leg and Kai-Ro formed a ball of light around himself so that he could shoot up through the roof without hurting himself. Blackfire screamed in shock as he was dragged up through the newly formed hole. And just before he left Kai-Ro made several hard light lamps that gave a full, green illumination to the room. As expected Black Hand shouted in annoyance at the bright light, covering his eyes.

"Damn it! What's going on!? Who is so foolish that they would ruin my finest moment?!" Black Hand demanded.

"That would be us, Mr. Hands On." Said a taunting voice from above and Black Hand looked up to see Batman and Warhawk floating just above him.

"You two! Well color me surprised and call me impressed. I didn't think you would figure things out to know to come here." Black Hand said.

"You can thank TJ for that. Even after you killed him he left us a clue which led us here." Warhawk said.

"Is that so? Well I'll make a point of bringing him back to life and making that bastard regret his little stunt. But for the moment, I am content to settle with the two of you!" Black Hand shouted and shot a ray of black energy at both heroes.

Warhawk and Batman dodged the attack and the former went on the attack first. Rather than use his armor talons on his fingers he instead started to kick at Black Hand. He landed a few hits this time, the nth metal doing some serious damage on the zombie Lantern. Batman meanwhile gripped his hands hard to form the nth metal armor plating on his knuckles again, then began to punch Black Hand on the other side. Bombarded by both heroes Black Hand was unable to block and attack both of them at the same time. However he still managed to hold his own never the less, eventually managing to subdue Warhawk by forming a giant skeleton hand that that grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. Before he could try to get away the skeletal hand sunk it's nails into the wall and the fingers formed like prison bars around Warhawk. The half-Thanagarian tried to shove the hand off but was unable to do so.

"Warhawk! Let him go, Black Hand!" Batman ordered to the zombie Lantern.

"Oh don't worry, Batman, I will. After all my new Black Lanterns will expect a feast once I have risen them from their depths. Which reminds me, I think they'll want a tasty dish of bat-a-touille to go with their fresh hawk." Black Hand said and used his power ring to form chains around Batman's ankles and keep him literally floored.

"Gah!" Batman exclaimed in pain as the black, hard light chains gripped his flesh so hard he just knew there would be some type of bruising. And try as he might to pull himself out there was no use.

"Now then, before I was so rudely interrupted, I was conducting a ceremony. And since Blackfire didn't dig up the last body I'll just have to take care of it." Black Hand said and formed a hard light shovel then dug up grave number forty, grinning to himself in satisfaction. "And there. Now I can begin, and with a minute and thirty seconds to spare. Any last words before the night belongs to the Black Lantern Corps, heroes?"

"I'm half tempted to say drop dead, but that would be redundant." Batman stated snarkily.

"Well I have something to say to you, Black Hand." Warhawk said, making the villain turn his head to look at him.

"Oh really? And what's that?" Black Hand asked.

"Let's see how you like being a pin-up model." Suddenly, Warhawk's eyes dilated and the strips of nth metal armor on his legs tore off from the mesh cloth and flew right through the narrow space of the fingers and straight at Black Hand.

"What...!?" Black Hand was so stunned that he couldn't move away in time before all six strips of the tough ally literally nailed him to the wall. And one of them impaled the palm of his black, zombie arm. The resulting pain made Black Hand lose focus on his hard light compositions and soon the chains keeping Batman down and the skeleton hand imprisoning Warhawk dispersed and allowed them to break free. When they walked over to the defeated man he looked at them with hard glares. "Let me down from here, you bastards!"

"Oh don't worry. I'm sure that Kai-Ro called in some of his fellow Green Lanterns to come along and let you down so you can get a free a ride to Oa Prison." Batman said.

"Ha! And you think I'm going to stay pinned up here until that little green runt comes back with his chump friends?" Black Hand asked mockingly.

"Actually, Black Hand, you'd be surprised by how fast this 'little green runt' and his 'chump friends' can travel on a moment's notice." Said a new, sarcastic sounding voice and everyone looked up to see Kai-Ro and two other, slightly older Green Lanterns standing at either said of him and all three using their power rings to contain an obviously disgruntled looking Blackfire.

"Well, you sure took your sweet time coming back here. You missed my trick where I shot the nth metal from my suit at Black Hand." Warhawk said.

"How did you pull that off anyway?" Batman asked to Warhawk.

"Beats me. But ever since I was a kid I had this ability to mentally control nth metal and change it into any shape or form I want. And if I can focus hard enough I can send a few strips of it flying at a Black Lantern asshat." Warhawk said, looking at Black Hand with a mocking grin.

"It figures you would pick today to actually think, Warhawk. But then again I should have known you were up to something when I smelled fried chicken." Black Hand said snidely.

"Well where we're taking you, Black Hand, the only thing you'll be smelling is burnt fuel and space crap from your next one hundred eons of hard labor as you and your friend here clean star ships." Said the female wolf-like Green Lantern.

"Nice work on this, too, GL Kai-Ro. It's pretty impressive how you managed to subdue Blackfire the way you did before we got here to assist you." Said the male blue skinned, elf-eared Green Lantern as he moved the giant green containment sphere over to Black Hand and forced him inside it to join Blackfire.

"Thank you, my fellow Lantern, but it was Blackfire who did most of the work for me. After all only a mad priest with an ego would take up my dare that to prove that he was so 'invincible from his higher power' that he couldn't knock himself out from turning his own power ring against himself." Kai-Ro said which made the other Lanterns, Batman and Warhawk laugh while Blackfire merely huffed in irritation.

"Well we should head up to Oa now and settle these two in their new permanent homes." Said the female wolf-like Green Lantern.

"I agree. Warhawk, Batman, I'll see you both later on after I return." Kai-Ro said to his friends.

"Of course. Take your time, man." Warhawk said and waved off the younger hero as he flew away with the other Green Lanterns. That left him and Batman in the sub-basement all to themselves.

"Well, I don't know about you, after tonight I can't wait to peel off this suit and crash on my bed." Batman said as he stretched his aching limbs before sitting down on the stone altar.

"Yeah, same here. I always tease Kai-Ro about taking bubble baths but right now one doesn't sound too bad." Warhawk said as he sat down beside Batman. "So...You asked me a question about my folks earlier, can I ask one about yours?"

"Sure. I guess it can't hurt, ask away." Batman said.

"Do your parents let you date?" Warhawk asked. The question made the young vigilante's eyes grow wide and he blinked in surprise, whipping his head around to look the half-Thanagarian.

"Excuse me?" Batman asked.

"Heh, guess that sounded pretty sudden to ask." Warhawk said with an embarrassed chuckle.

"A little bit, yeah." Batman said with a grin that was a cross between amused and nervous.

"Well I just meant, I don't know, if you get to date anyone despite the kind of work you do. Kyle always told me about how people like us have a hard time keeping up relationships. So I guess I wonder if your parents let you get involved to keep you from dealing with the heartache of breaking it off or something." Warhawk said with a shrug.

"I see. Now that you've explained it I can understand. But no, they don't keep me from dating. I just prefer not to date." Batman said.

"Really? How come? You have your pick of just about any guy or woman in town." Warhawk said.

"Only because of who's son I am and how much money I have. No one really wants to be with me just for me. All they see is an easy way up to the top just because I'm a...well you know." Batman trailed off.

"Oh. Well, damn...I'm sorry about that. I guess I never really thought about that. Now I must really seem like a knot-head." Warhawk said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it. Most people don't think about things like that anyway. But even still, it's not like I've necessarily given up hope. Just haven't found the type of person that I can see myself liking yet." Batman said.

"...I see. Well even though my dad was a Green Lantern, he lived by the Blue Lantern's oath too. So keep hope alive." Warhawk said with a slight smile and Batman smiled back.

"Thanks. I appreciate that." Batman said. Just then Kai-Ro flew down the hole in the roof, floating in mid air in front of the two.

"Well Blackfire and Black Hand are locked away in their cells. There is truly justice in the world, for now they must not only share a cell together but they have been sent to solitary confinement for the rest of their days. Now Black Hand is the audience of one for Blackfire's sermons." Kai-Ro said with a smirk.

"Ha! Now that's karma for you. I have to ask if they keep security cameras in the solitary confinement cells so me and Kyle could watch that." Warhawk said.

"Well, I think that's all settled. I'm heading home. Think you guys can find your way back on your own?" Batman asked.

"Sure, we got it Bat's. And hey, you weren't so bad to work with either. For maybe we could do it again sometime." Warhawk said.

"I concur. You are a strong hero and would serve as a valuable ally, and we shall do the same in return and help you." Kai-Ro said.

"I think that would be just fine guys. Next time a raving villain tries to destroy everything we know and love we can touch bases then. But for now, farewell and goodnight." And with that Batman summoned his Hover Batmobile and in no time it was hovering right over the hole in the ceiling and Batman flew up to get inside it, then drove off. Warhawk and Kai-Ro immediately flew upward to catch a final glimpse of the retreating vehicle.

"He's really something else, isn't he?" Kai-Ro asked to his friend.

"Yeah...Yeah he sure is." Warhawk said, though he was barely paying attention as he watched the vehicle fade further and further into the distance. Then he suddenly had a thought and turned to Kai-Ro. "Say Kai-Ro, didn't Kyle say he was looking for a larger, new apartment for us to live in that was closer to Metropolis?"

"Yes, I believe he did. Why do you ask?" Kai-Ro asked.

"Well...I think I may have just found the right place for us." Warhawk said with a strange grin, which made the younger teen tilt his head in confusion.

 **=====The Next Day=====**

 _Neo Gotham, Wednesday 9:47AM. Hill High School..._

And here Terry was, enjoying a perfectly normal day. It was greatly welcomed since last night was beyond unreal even for him. He ran a little late for school since Justin let him get some extra sleep in, given how tired he was. As such he promised the principal he would make up for his lateness. And actually, the older woman said, there was something Terry could do to redeem his slight tardiness. They got a new surprise transfer student in from Metropolis who needs a tour of the school. Normally the class president would handle this sort of thing but the unexpected event shattered the calm of the perfectionist, high maintenance teen making him unable to do it. And since the principal herself is too busy she asked Terry to show the new student around school. He figured it wasn't the worst thing and gladly agreed to do. So as soon as first period was over Terry went outside and stood outside the school entrance, on the look out for a green sports hover car that the principal said the new student would arrive in. But as he waited Terry couldn't help but get a strange and suspicious feeling in the pit of his stomach...

"Why do I feel like fate set me up for a huge joke?" Terry asked himself. Before he could ponder on it more the green sports hover car pulled up. Immediately setting aside the question for now he walked down from the small staircase at the school entrance and walked over towards the car as the front passenger door opened. "Hey, you must be the new kid. Welcome to Hill Hi...YOU!"

Terry's greeting ended with shock when he got a good look at the transfer student, who turned out to be Rex Stewart.

"Hello, fruit bat. Miss me?" Rex asked with a grin.

"What...But...You...I...Why are you here!?" Terry asked in demanding surprise.

"I can explain that one, Terry." Said the driver in the car and Terry looked down in it to see Kyle at the wheel, grinning at him. "See me, Kai-Ro and Rex were starting to outgrow our old apartment so I figured we'd find a new place in a town closer to Metropolis so I can use my old apartment there as a sleep-in office. And Rex suggested we get a place here. He even offered to transfer schools so I can have someone here to be a line between me and Clark when I go to Metropolis for work."

"Really? How generous of him." Terry said with a glare directed to Rex who still held his grin.

"Well I had better go to the new apartment and check it over with Kai-Ro. See you later, Rex." And with that Kyle drove off in the sporty green vehicle, leaving Rex alone with Terry.

"So, this is Hill High School? Seems like this perch is big enough for a pair of flying dudes like you and me." Rex said.

"I don't compete for the perch, so you can have it for yourself. Now you didn't ask cousin Kyle to move here to Gotham just to find a new place, and you sure as hell didn't transfer here just to be a line between him and pops. What's your real reason for being here, Rex?" Terry asked.

"Well, I thought a lot about what you told me last night. About how you haven't given up hope of finding the right person you like. Someone who can appreciate you for you and not you for your bank balance." Rex said.

"So what, you transferred to my school to play Cupid for me and find me a significant other? Gee, that's a totally original, never-used-in-a-movie plan." Terry said sarcastically.

"No, I'm going going to play Cupid for you. I'm hoping Cupid will do his thing for us." Rex said. The statement left Terry a bit confused, before his azure eyes bulged in shock.

"Wait...You mean...You actually think that the two of us could be... _ **together?!**_ " Terry asked in shock.

"Of course. It's not such a stretch. I mean I think we had good chemistry when we first met anyway." Rex said.

"You got under my skin like a bad rash and tried to punch me when we first met before I tossed you." Terry deadpanned.

"Hey for us Thanagarians, even half-breeds like me, love at first _fight_ isn't all that uncommon. So it still applies all the same. I think we could make it work if we tried." Rex said.

"Oh do you? And just what makes you think I'll let you be anything more than an ally in arms and maybe a friend?" Terry asked. At this the Alpha teen smiled with a sincere yet mischievous expression and walked up to Terry to look him in the eye.

"Because, you're your Omega dad's son. And you love proving folks wrong almost as much as fighting injustice. So you'll play along if only to prove to me that you won't grow to like me later the way I like you now." Rex stated.

"...What makes you so sure I'll like you that way at all at any point?" Terry asked as he steeled himself to keep from reacting from having this Alpha, who he hated to admit was a handsome stud of his secondary gender, so close to him.

"That's another thing about us Thanagarians. When it comes to mating, and see that one person...we just know. But you'll figure it out soon enough." Rex said, then stepped back a bit before giving his more typical smug grin. "So then, shall we start the tour?"

"Yeah...sure thing." Terry said simply.

"Great. And I really do hope we can get to know each other more along the way, Terry." Rex spoke in a kind, almost loving manner.

Terry didn't respond to that statement vocally but gave a nod as he led the way back into the school. As he walked he began to wonder if Rex's little confession/declaration what his feeling of being set up for a joke by fate was about. However he had to ask him, and ask himself seriously, if it really was the joke he was trying to play it off to be. And if it wasn't...would it be so bad to accept it? Who can say as things have just begun? What will or won't happen is anyone's guess. One thing was for certain though; with this new development Terry was sure to have many adventures to come with his fellow hybrid hero Rex Stewart.


	3. The McGinnis Mystery

_Neo Gotham, 2 weeks later 11:47AM. Hill High School..._

It was a typical day at Hill High School, granted it was a bit more animated with excitement than usual. And Terry had the newest transfer and fellow hybrid hero Rex Stewart to thank for that. He's been at the school for a little over two weeks now and he's still the talk of the school. All of the girls, and some of the boys, swooned over the hunky green-eyed Alpha every time he walked in the room. Meanwhile the boys who weren't fawning Rex were jealousy pissed that he was stealing their thunder and all the eligible girls and Omega boys. Basically it was either folks wanted to hang the half-Thanagarian or they wanted to hug him. Not that Rex cared either way since he made it clear both to Terry and the student body that he only had eyes for the Wayne-Kent son, whom he was bound and determined to court and win over.

Of course just because that was his goal it didn't mean Terry was going to make it easy for him...

"Boy, he's sure gotten real popular real fast. Now I can finally get some peace." Terry said, sitting on the patio outside of the school during their break hour and looking over to see Rex making his way through his new admirers.

"Don't get too used to it, Terr. You know the girls and boys Rex turned down are going to come at you with less than happy faces." Dana teased to her friend with a grin.

"Yeah. If anything you're going to have folks bug ya even more. So, what can you tell us about Mr. Stewart? You said you knew him as a kid." Max said.

" _Knew_ is right. We played together years ago, back when I was two and he was four. But sometimes after that him and his folks moved. I haven't seen him since then, until he popped into town two weeks ago." Terry explained.

"Wow, that sounds like a set up for one of those old time romance movies my parents have. Two childhood friends get separated and then meet each other again years later. After that they start to see each other in a whole new different way." Dana explained with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"It seems to me like you've been watching a few of those old time romance movies, Miss Tan." Max said with a knowing grin.

"I refuse to answer on the grounds that I have no lawyer present." Dana replied and cheekily stuck her tongue out. "Seriously though, it's pretty surreal how you guys met each other again after more than ten years. You both must have been emotional."

"We had a rather... _touching_ reunion, yeah." Terry said with a slightly nervous look in the opposite direction, recalling that night on the rooftop where he and Rex did touch in a way. Though the 'touching' part had more to do with physical confrontation than emotions he supposed it still counted.

"I'm sure. So are you going going to reconnect, or just do your own thing with the occasional hello?" Max asked.

"I actually planned to go with the second option, but his guardian is a close friend of my folks. And now that he's transferred here I gotta play nice and reacquaint myself him all over again." Terry explained.

"And I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with you, also." Said a new voice behind Terry and he turned around to see Rex giving his trademark lopsided grin. It was hard to say whether he got it from Aunt Shayera or Uncle John since they both grinned that way.

"Are you sure you'll have time though? Your new fan club seems to keep you busy." Terry said with a smug, knowing look.

"Eh, I'm not worried about them. Actually you'd help keep them away from me. I've already been catching hell from the guys who hate me. Particularly that asshole captain of the hockey team." Rex said.

"Oh no..." Terry groaned, face palming himself in frustration.

"I take it that's not your most favorite person in the world?" Rex asked.

"Not hardly. That 'asshole captain of the hockey team' is Nelson Nash, and he's been after Terry for a since last year to date him." Dana explained.

At this, Rex's features immediately changed. His posture stiffened, his face contorted into a tight scowl and the pupil of his green eyes narrowed into slits like a hawk's would. Terry knew then and there that this wasn't going to be good.

"...Is that so? He sounds like a pretty persistent guy. I suppose that's why he's been giving me a hard time since I've been here." Rex said with a seemingly nonchalant expression, but Terry knew that his blood was starting to boil. Before he could tell him anything to calm his fellow hybrid a new voice spoke up. Rather loudly too.

"Hey, Stewart!" Shouted the voice of the one and only, thank God for that, Nelson. The two young men and two ladies looked in the direction of the voice and saw the red head storming up to them. Or more specifically storming up to Rex.

"Nelson, we were just chatting about you." Rex spoke with a calm tone but his expression was filled with smug mocking.

"Don't start with me, Stewart. I came here for answers and I want them right now." Nelson demanded.

"Pretending that I'll actually given in to your demands, what is it that you want answers about?" Rex asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Is it true that you actually knew Terry from when you were kids?" Nelson asked back, expression half threatening and half doubtful.

"Yes, I did. And we met each other again recently." Rex confirmed.

"Tch, no way. Wayne-Kent doesn't keep any Alphas for friends." Nelson stated in disbelief.

"That's where you're wrong, Nash. I have quite a few Alpha friends. It's just you and the rest of your knot-head bunch I don't hang with." Terry stated, standing up and giving Nelson a look that clearly said 'Don't even start'.

But as we all know Nelson isn't good at taking hints.

"Well I don't see how you would rather be friends with this guy and not me, of all people." Nelson said with an incredulous look.

"From what I've been told about you, Nash, it's not so hard to guess why Terry wouldn't want to be your friend." Rex inputted.

"I don't care what you've heard. What's between me and Terry is none of your damn business." Nelson replied defiantly.

"Wrong. When I came to Gotham anything and everything about Terry became my business. And believe me when I tell you that I'm the last person you want in your business." Rex stated, being none to subtle in his threat.

"Tch, please mac. You'll have to do a lot better than that before you can even try to scare me off." Nelson said cockily.

"Frankly Nelson, I would be less worried about Rex will do _trying_ to scare you and more worried what I will do to _make_ you scared." Terry stated as he got very close to Nelson, glaring straight at him.

Being taller than most Omega males he was able to face down Alphas with more confidence. And once again he used that famous 'Bat Glare' he inherited from his panjo to get his point across. Like before it worked on the jock and he immediately backed up, showing some signs of fear even though he tried not to.

"Sheesh, chill Wayne. I won't hurt your... _buddy_ here, so long as he doesn't cross the wrong people." Nelson said.

"Funny. I was about to tell you the same thing, Nash." Rex said. The two Alphas stared each other down for a while before Nelson gave a 'hmph' and walked off in another direction.

"Well...that was a rather testosterone charged situation. No offense, Terry." Dana said.

"None taken. At least he won't be bothering me for the rest of today. But as usual with Nelson, there's always tomorrow." Terry said.

"If he values his health at all, he'll stay far away tomorrow." Rex stated with an underlining tone of anger.

"Why Rex, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were jealous." Terry said with an amused yet indifferent look. He was amused of the idea of such a confident Alpha as Rex to be jealous of someone like Nelson, and indifferent because he wasn't the first Alpha to be jealous over him.

"Che, please. I don't get jealous. I make _other guys_ jealous. However I don't like seeing a pushy Alpha try to move in on an Omega obviously not interested. It gives real Alphas like me a bad name, and I won't stand for that." Rex said.

"Wow, cute and chivalrous. All Rex needs is elbow patches on his jacket and he'll be as old fashioned as you, Terr." Max said teasingly.

"Ha, ha. Elbow patches are still in, thank you very much." Terry replied.

"Yeah. They were in by the time 1955 was out. Anyway, let's get on to class." Dana said and the group headed back into the school.

The day progressed with not much fan fair, except for Rex getting cornered by several determined girls and Terry watching on in amusement. The half Thanagarian asked why Terry didn't step in to help like he did for him with Nelson. And the half Kryptonian replied by saying he always found in cute when a big bird get's their feathers ruffled. The following imitation of a drum rim shot from Max was not appreciated. Finally the school day came to an end and all of the students began to leave. Rex and Terry bid goodbye to Dana and Max after Dana's older sister came to pick them up. Then as Terry headed to his hover Cord he realized that Rex was following him.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Terry asked as he turned around to face the other hybrid.

"I'm going with you, of course." Rex said.

"Don't you have to head home and do homework, like normal high school students?" Terry asked again.

"Now you ought to know by now that I'm about as normal as you, and that isn't much." Rex replied with a grin.

"...Alright Stewart, I gotta admit that was a checkmate. But you're still not going. I'm going to meet some family of mine." Terry said as he turned to his car.

"But aren't I like family? I mean, our folks did work close together. Besides, I was serious about courting you." Rex said.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Terry asked.

"If an Alpha wants to be with an Omega, he has to get to know that Omega's family to show he's worthy. And that means the _entire_ family, immediate and extended alike." Rex said with a smug grin.

"Boy you just have to cross the t's and dot those i's, don't you?" Terry asked defiantly, but his look showed obvious defeat and he let out a sigh that held the same emotion. "Fine, you can tag along. But no talk about courtship! I'm still trying to wrap my head around it and tell my folks led alone my other relatives."

"Sure, sure. My lips are sealed. But question; if your Omega dad is called 'the World's Greatest Detective' and your Alpha old man can hear your heart rate to tell when you're lying, how are you going to keep that a secret from either of them?" Rex asked.

"I don't know, but whatever happens panjo isn't the only one who has contingency plans up his sleeve. Anyway, get in." Terry said and walked around to the driver's side of his car while Rex just blinked in shocked confusion at the reply before shrugging and getting into the car.

Terry drove them from the school grounds towards the heart of Gotham where most of the suburbs were. They passed by a few different residential districts but Terry was driving to a particular one. And after they passed the fifth one Rex was starting to get curious.

"So who are these relatives that you're going to meet?" Rex asked.

"Well I guess you could say they're like my step family, because I'm visiting my aunt, uncle and half brother." Terry replied.

"Half brother!? But I...I thought you were an only child?" Rex asked in confusion.

"Well officially yeah, I am. However my half brother Matt is the son of Warren and Mary McGinnis." Terry replied.

"I'm afraid I'm lost here, fruit bat. You mind explaining this in more detail for me?" Rex asked.

"Well, I guess you'd learn about it sooner or later anyway. See ten years ago panjo and pops were holding a charity event to help less fortunate families, and one of the couples attending was Warren and Mary McGinnis. But their less fortunate situation wasn't one involving financial straits. It was something more personal." Terry explained.

"Personal how?" Rex asked.

"They had some fertility problems, and asked my folks if they could help. They couldn't afford regular artificial insemination treatments and candidate screenings and thought they might be able to help." Terry said.

"Wow. Talk about a charity case. But wait, if Matt is your half brother then that would mean..." Rex trailed in slight surprise and Terry grinned at him.

"Yep. Panjo was the candidate who offered his sperm for the insemination. Then Mary had Matt a few months later and now I have a nine year old little brother." Terry said.

"That's pretty...bizarre. But I guess if you're going to get a kid any kind of way it may as well be through charity. Though I hope Mr. Wayne-Kent made a new rule saying that his charitable work don't include sperm donating." Rex said with a grin.

"Actually, that was a rule that Grandfather Thomas Wayne added when he started Wayne Enterprises. You'd be surprised what folks will ask from a rich person." Terry said as he turned into the neighborhood where the McGinnis family lived." Terry asked.

"Maybe you should do a report on that for your next family studies assignment." Rex said.

"I actually did once. Got a B+ for it, too." Terry said as he parked the car right in front of a medium sized suburban home. "Well, we're here. Now before we get in you'll want to physically brace yourself. Matt likes to tackle when he hugs."

"Really? Is that because he wants to practice to become a football player or something?" Rex asked.

"Nah. He just likes to catch people off guard." Terry said as they exited the car.

"Is that so? Sounds to me that the makings of another crime fighter to join you on patrols. Guess the apple doesn't fall far after all." Rex said.

"Tch, don't even joke. Panjo would kill me if I even thought of becoming a Dynamic Duo with dear little Mattie." Terry said as he rang the doorbell. After a moment the door opened and revealed Mary McGinnis.

Rex's sharp eyes gave Mary McGinnis a quick yet observant look over. She was old, but not that old. It was evident by the fact that her hair, which was red in color and sort in length, only had a few strands of grey it. So she was a young mother for her age. She had dark eyes that added contrast to her fair appearance and had a fit shape to her body. She wore a knee length blue dress and black flat shoes. From the looks of her demeanor Rex could also tell that she was a Beta. Mary blinked for a moment before smiling brightly at Terry.

"Terry, it's go great to see you again. It's been too long." Mary said as she reached out and hugged Terry who gladly returned the hug.

"Hi, Aunt Mary. I'm happy to see you too. I was able to steal away some time to visit and thought I would surprise you and Matt." Terry said with a smile of his own.

"Well I'm glad they finally let you go. That night job of yours is so demanding. You certainly have more commitment than I would, Terry. I would've quit after the first month." Mary said with a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, it can be pretty...harsh, to say the least. But even still I find it very fulfilling." Terry said spoke truthfully. Well he was truthful in his feelings anyway. He wasn't about to tell her the truth of what his _'night job'_ really was.

"I can understand that, I suppose. I feel the same about my interior decorating work. Oh, but where are my manors? I didn't even say hello to your friend. And who might you be?" Mary asked, turning to look directly at Rex.

"Hello, Mrs. McGinnis. I'm Rex Stewart. I just moved to Gotham but Terry and I knew each other when we were kids through our folks." Rex said, giving a nod of respect to the older woman.

"Well then it's very nice to meet you, Rex. And please, call me Mary. Mrs. McGinnis is my mother, who fortunately lives all the way in Star City." Mary said, mumbling the last part to herself with an annoyed expression before her beaming smile returned. "Anyway, come on in! I made cookie dough stuffed chocolate cups, and I was worried they'd go to waste because I made so much. But I'm glad you boys showed up."

"When it comes to your treats, Aunt Mary, I make it my duty to ensure no bite ever goes to waste." Terry said with a smile as he walked in, followed by Rex and then Mary closed the door.

As soon the teenagers walked inside and made their way into the living room Terry's ears caught onto a sound. It was the sound of familiar thumping coming from a pair of small charging feet. And they were headed right his way. Grinning knowingly he stopped for a minute in the hallway. Rex stopped as well, confused by Terry's sudden pause in movement. He was about to ask what was wrong when a sudden shout of "AAHHH!" made him look ahead in shock to see who was screaming. Before he even knew it Terry had stepped aside and the source of the shout rammed into Rex. _Hard_. So hard in fact that it knocked the wind out of him as well as knock him down. After a moment of his eyes going from black-out to vision he finally regained enough mental awareness to speak.

"Ugh...What the...?" Rex asked in confusion as he slowly lifted his head to see who or what just tackled him like a meteorite. And it turns out it was a who. A black haired, nine-year old mischievously grinning little who.

"Ha! I finally gotcha at last, Terry!" Exclaimed the little boy in victory. However when he got a good look at who he just knocked down and realized it wasn't Terry the boy made an overly dramatic gasp. "Hey, you're not Terry!"

"No, and if I was I'd be standing up on my feet with a smug look on my face." Rex said, looking up at Terry with an accusing glare to which the Omega returned with a grin.

"Well you said you wanted to meet my relatives. And this is the best way you can meet Matt. Besides, I told you to brace yourself before I rang the doorbell." Terry said.

"Yeah. But you didn't say how much I had to brace myself. Felt like someone threw a tire at me!" Rex stated as he leaned up into a sitting position, then looked Matt directly in the face. "So, you're Terry's little brother? He told me a lot about you."

"Oh yeah? Well whatever he said it's not true. I was at home all night when my math teacher's car got painted with all those funny faces." Matt stated with a serious look. At least as serious as a nine-year old can manage.

"The jury's still out on that, twip. But I just told Rex how we're related. And how you're a regular handful." Terry said, ruffling Matt's hair in a semi-rough, fully affectionate manner.

"Ha! You're more of a handful than me. You always go around acting like you're the toughest guy there ever was." Matt said, getting off Rex in favor of going over to Terry and giving him a hug.

"That's because I am, Mattie. And don't you ever forget it." Terry said, hugging back his little brother.

Rex looked at the two brothers and couldn't help but smile. It was clear that Terry and Matt cared for each other even though they busted their chops. Of course he could tell it was all in good fun. He and Kai-Ro act just like a brother pair, though in their case it's actually the small Green Lantern who is older than the half Thanagarian by two years. Which makes Rex more the "only looks older" meddlesome younger sibling while Kai-Ro was the "only looks younger" calm older sibling.

"From the way you're sitting on the floor, Rex, I take it you met my son." Said the voice of Mary and the boys looked up to see her walk into the living with a tray of cookie dough chocolate cups with cups of milk on the side.

"Oh yeah. We had a close encounter, if you know what I mean." Rex said as he pushed himself onto his feet.

"Sorry about that. Matt tends to be full frontal when he greets new people." Mary said as she sat the goodies down on the table.

"Heh, I guess all boys can be that way starting out. Anyway let's have a bite of these epic looking treats." Rex said.

And so the small company of four sat down and enjoyed the cookie dough chocolate cups. They chatted, laughed and spent a long time enjoying one another's company. So long in fact that Terry realized it was time that he should head home.

"Wow, time really does pass by you. I'm sorry we kept you and your friend here for so long, Terry." Mary said apologetically.  
"Don't worry, Aunt Mary. I don't get to visit that often so I really enjoyed spending as long as I could here." Terry said with a smile.

"Yeah, and I enjoyed myself too Mrs. McGinnis. So it's no big deal." Rex added.

"Well that's good to hear. Matthew, you get started on your homework while I walk Terry and Rex to the door and I'll come up to help you." Mary said as she stood up.

"Okay, mom. Bye Terry! Bye Mr. Giant!" Matt exclaimed as he waved off the teens and ran off upstairs, most likely to get his homework.

"Mr. Giant?" Rex asked, looking both confused and a tad peeved.

"Well you gotta admit, Stewart, you are kinda huge. I mean you make our full grown teachers look like midgets." Terry said with a grin as they walked to the door with Mary.

"Whatever. It's not my fault they didn't take their vitamins as kids." Rex stated with a proud look.

"Of course not. But anyway, we really enjoyed ourselves Aunt Mary. We should do this again soon." Terry said and stepped aside to allow Mary to open the door for them.

"I'd love that, Terry. And maybe you could bring your parents along. Oh, but could you stay for a moment? I wanted to ask you something privately." Mary said.

"Sure. I'll see you in the car in a moment, Rex." Terry said, giving the Alpha the car keys for the hover Cord.

"Got it. I'll just listen to my tunes in the mean time." Rex said and walked over to the car.

"So what did you want to talk to me about, Aunt Mary?" Terry asked.

"Well, that Rex Stewart boy is a very interesting person." Mary said.

"Rex? Oh yeah he's quite the wild card." Terry said. That was probably the best possible way to describe Rex, since the fact that he knew him in the past along with many other facts about him was pretty wild.

"And he's an Alpha, too." Mary pointed out.

"Yes. So...?" Terry trailed off in confusion.

"Terry, ever since you hit puberty the only Alpha that's ever been around you is your father Clark. And maybe some business associates of your father Bruce that he introduces you to. Yet here you are bringing an Alpha boy when you come to visit me and Matthew." Mary explained.

"I'm sorry but I'm still not getting it, Aunt Mary." Terry said.

"Well, it makes a woman wonder if she's looking at her sort-of nephew's friend...or someone who's a great deal more precious, if you know what I mean." Mary said with a wink.

Someone who's more precious? What did she mean by that, Terry wondered...Oh... _OH!_ When the realization hit him Terry blushed madly and did a double take. Then he gestured at himself and to Rex, who was sitting in the car unknowingly as he listened to music on his phone.

"WHAT!? Rex and me?! You...He...I...! How could you possibly think that, Aunt Mary!?" Terry asked in a scandalized tone.

"Oh Terry, a mother always knows. Even when the child isn't her's. You two act just like a couple who don't yet realize they're going in that direction." Mary said with a motherly yet also mischievous smile. And for the first time Terry could see who Max got his own similar grin from.

"Aunt Mary, that's crazy talk! Rex only just calm to town two weeks ago! We're hardly even friends! I mean I didn't even want him tagging along but he insisted!" Terry stated in an attempt to defend himself.

"That's how it all starts out as 'hardly friends' before it becomes something more, Terry. You'll see." Mary said with a little laugh.

"A-As if! Anyway, since you asked me something there was something I wanted to ask you." Terry said.

"Go ahead. It's only fair." Mary said.

"Where's Uncle Warren? I haven't seen him around the whole time Rex and I were visiting." Terry said.

At this, Mary's face changed drastically. Once happy and full of mirth it flipped to a melancholy and despondent expression. This obviously told Terry that he struck a nerve. And right then his trained detective sense activated as his mind went through a dozen possible scenarios for why Mary would look the way she does at the mention of her husband. Finally after a minute and a half of silence she spoke.

"Warren...isn't with us." Mary spoke sadly.

"What? Aunt Mary, I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell me or my parents? How did he die?" Terry asked as he took his sort-of aunt's hands into his for comfort.

"Oh no, nothing like that Terry! I'm sorry for worrying you like that. Warren is plenty alive. It's just that he's not with us in the house right now. He actually hasn't been for some time." Mary clarified.

"Well thank God. You really scared me there. But, why hasn't Uncle Warren been living with you guys? Are you divorcing?" Terry asked.

"No. At least, I don't think so..." Mary trailed off, sounding unsure.

"I'm afraid you lost me again, Aunt Mary. What's going on exactly?" Terry asked. After another moment silence Mary gave Terry the most pitiable expression and sighed before she spoke.

"Well, it all began nine months ago right after Matt's ninth birthday. Warren got a phone call from his old friend that he went to Gotham University with. I can't remember the name though. Something with the initials H.T. Anyway after that phone call Warren was on edge and stressed for the longest time. Then three weeks later he said that he needed to move out of the house." Mary explained.

"Did he say why? Did it have something to with this friend of his?" Terry asked.

"Honestly I don't think so, because as he was leaving he said that his boss needed a lot of his time for a major project. And it would involve a lot of industrial material that he didn't want Matt to touch and risk hurting himself. I still thought it was strange but I agreed to it. And it's not as though he's doesn't get involved with us. He'll have video chats with me and Matt once in a while, send money, toys to Matt and flowers to me." Mary spoke further and the Omega gave a thoughtful hum.

"That is pretty strange. Even when panjo did business he never had his employees move out to a new house just to keep them focused on a project. So what has you thinking that you may be divorcing? Do you think Uncle Warren is having an affair or something?" Terry asked.

"No, we never had troubles like that. And Warren is very devoted to being a family man. It's just that...I can't help but wonder if moving out was his way of saying he wants to be married to his work. That's why I'm unsure. I just wish there was a way to find out but I don't want to risk upsetting him." Mary said, looking away with a deep frown on her lips and tears welling up in her black eyes.

"I understand, auntie. Maybe I can find out somehow. I don't know how but I will. And when I do I'll let you know. Promise." Terry assured.

"Really? Oh Terry, thank you. I can't tell you how much that means to me." Mary said and hugged the raven haired teen tenderly who hugged her back.

"Don't worry about it. That's what family does for each other. Anyway, I shouldn't keep Rex waiting too long. And Matt's probably waiting on you too." Terry said as he pulled back.  
"Yes, and if I don't help him with his homework he'll write something silly for answer. I'll see you later Terry. And thanks again." Mary said and with a motherly peck to Terry's forehead she walked back into her house and closed the door. Terry meanwhile turned around and headed to the hover cord then got inside.

"Well that sure took a long time. What did you two talk about?" Rex asked as he pulled out his earbuds to listen to Terry and gave him the keys.

"There's something going on with my Uncle Warren, Aunt Mary's husband. He hasn't been living at the house for nine months and the reason why seems to involve some kind of project at his job." Terry explained as he buckled up and started the car.

"Really? Well I don't know how big businesses work but I do know that employees don't go moving out of their own homes just to work on a project." Rex said.

"That's what I was thinking. So we're going to head to Uncle Warren's job tomorrow and hopefully learn what's going on so I can get some answers for Aunt Mary." Terry replied as he drove down the road.

"We? Thought this was a family thing." Rex teased with a grin.

"I know, but my gut is telling me that this is going to turn out to be way more than a family thing." Terry said, then turned to look at the half Thanagarian with a grin. "Besides, you'd just tag along anyway. Wouldn't you?"

"True that. Plus I've had my share of gut feelings warning me of small situations potentially growing into something worse. So I'll go with you on this." Rex said.

"Good. I'll tell panjo and pops about this after I drop you off." Terry said.

"And I'll do the same with Kyle. So where exactly does Mr. Warren McGinnis work?" Rex asked.

"At the only other company nearly as large as Wayne Enterprises – the new age conglomerate known as FoxTeca. And it's owned by my cousin, Lucas Fox." Terry explained.

 _Neo Gotham, the next day 3:55PM. En route to FoxTeca HQ..._

Even though Terry was at a halfway distance from the new age company, he and Rex could still see the large chrome building that served the headquarters for the FoxTeca company. Terry has been there only a few times but even still he knows the lay of the company grounds pretty well. Still it always seems like the building itself changes somehow or another. A new tower is in place where he doesn't remember it being. Or the building itself seemed to grow in some kind of way. Whether it really changed or not didn't matter though because the principles of the company never changed. And if Terry was right the CEO never changed either.

"So, what can you tell me about this Lucas Fox guy? My folks vaguely knew your older brothers and Barbra Gordon from the bat side and only knew Supergirl and Superboy from your dad's side." Rex said.

"Well Lucas is pretty much like a first cousin to me. See he's the son of Lucius Fox, an old friend of panjo's." Terry explained.

"Now him my folks knew very well. He made quite a few of your panjo's toys from what I heard. And he even made a few gadgets for the rest of the team." Rex said.

"That's right. And when panjo was underground for that long period of time it was Uncle Lucius who ran Wayne Enterprises. Then after he came back and started running the company again Lucius made his own company. Hence FoxTeca. Uncle Lucius was a kind, wonderful man. It was really sad to see him pass away like he did." Terry explained.

"I can imagine. But it makes me wonder, if Lucas has even half of his father's personality why would he go so far as to have Warren move out just so he could focus on a project?" Rex asked.

"I don't know. Hopefully Lucas will have some answers for us." Terry said as he parked into a free space then exited the car along with Rex. As they walked to the entrance the guard on duty, an African American Beta male, seemed to recognize Terry and smiled at him and gave a salute.

"Good day, Mr. Wayne-Kent. It's good to see you after so long. How's the second Mr. Wayne-Kent and Mr. Kent?" The guard asked.

"Hello, Roderick. Both of my folks are fine, thanks. And you know it's just Terry between you and me. There's only one Mr. Wayne-Kent in the world." Terry said modestly.

"Of course, Terry. No problem. So what can I do for you?" The guard, Roderick, asked.

"I was wondering if Lucas was in today. I need to talk to him about something important." Terry said.

"Well I can tell you, but uh..." Roderick trailed off as he used his eyes to gesture at the tall Alpha teen standing behind the raven haired teen.

"Don't worry, he's with me. You might say he's a new business partner, of sorts." Terry replied. Granted the business he and Rex are partners in is breaking bones and kicking asses of criminals, but Roderick didn't have to know that.

"Ah. In that case then Mr. Fox is on the conference floor in room twelve. He's having the last few minutes of an important merger meeting. If you take the first two flights of stairs and then ride the elevator the rest of the way you'll get there when it's all wrapped up." Roderick explained.

"Schway. Thanks a lot, Roderick." Terry said with a nod to Roderick and shook the man's hand before walking into the building with Rex.

As soon as they entered Rex was greeted to a whole new sight. It was a fancy lobby with luxurious lounges and chairs to sit in, a crystal chandelier, video screens showing off new products set to be available for sale later in the year and much more. Now he's seen company buildings before and inside they all looked the same. But this place was in a league all of it's own. He craned his neck almost like the way owl-wing Thanagarians do as he looked around. He knew that he might have tripped since he was walking but he didn't think about it much. Rex wanted to soak up every detail of this building and burn every nook and cranny into his sharp hawk eyes.

"Whoa...This place is unbelievable." Rex said.

"Considering that Lucas strives to do to do things beyond the narrow idea of belief, he'd take that as a compliment." Terry said as they walked up the last step of the first flight of stairs then headed up the second.

"You said that this FoxTeca is almost as large as Wayne Enterprises. I can only imagine how that looks compared to this. It's almost too much to think about. And the building itself looks like it could touch the sky." Rex said.

"I know, but I wouldn't say that around Lucas's receptionist. Poor guy get's real spooked by heights. And maybe some day I'll show you around Wayne Enterprises." Terry said.

"Sure. Just leave breadcrumbs or something on the ground so I don't get lost. And if I wasn't following you I'm pretty I'd get lost here too." Rex said as they climbed the second flight of stairs, then turned the corner to the elevator.

"Ha, ha. Don't worry, I won't let you get lost. I'd feel bad about it." Terry said as he pressed the button for the conference floor on the elevator's keypad and waited for the shaft to come down.

"Oh yeah? Does that mean you're starting to see me as mate potential?" Rex asked with a grin.

"No. It means Kyle will all beat my ass for losing track of his precious bird boy. And as such I'll feel bad." Terry replied with a teasing grin just as the elevator came down and the doors opened with a 'whooshing' sound.

"Hmph. You say that for now but you'll change your mind before you know it." Rex said smugly as he entered the elevator with Terry.

The two stood still as the elevator sent them higher and higher through the building floors until they reached the conference floor, which was smack-dab in the middle of FoxTeca. The doors opened automatically and the teens walked out and Terry scanned the numbers on the doors until his eyes found a marble, white plaque that said in black print "Conference Room #12". Sure enough inside he could see a side angle of Lucas Fox and shaking hands with several men and women as they all stood up and the group gathered up their items. Terry and Rex waited for the group of people to leave the room before going over themselves. Terry walked inside first and Lucas had his head down, looking at some papers he was sorting. He smiled at his focused cousin before knocking on the open door to get his attention.

"I see you've made yet another merger. Keep being this successful and you'll need a clone to help you, Lucas." Terry joked.

Lucas looked up from his papers that he was sorting and gave a small gasp when he saw who it was. He blinked a few times in surprise and then that surprise turned into a big smile. Lucas moved from around the head seat of the long meeting table as he walked towards Terry with open arms.

"Terry, it's been too long! I'm so glad to see you!" Lucas exclaimed happily as both he and Terry hugged each other immediately.

"It's great seeing you, too, Lucas! I really missed you!" Terry exclaimed then took a step back. "Man, just look at you. The face of FoxTeca Corporation. You sure do look great."

Indeed, Lucas Fox was a very handsome example of Alpha. He had skin like dark chocolate just as his late father did, and his eyes were of equal rich brown color. His dark hair had grown grey highlights along the sides and led up to one bang that was also grey. Lucas was wearing a dark red suit with a cream colored dress shirt, a black bowtie and matching black dress shoes. Pinned on his lapel and shining brightly was a silver fox head shaped badge which is the symbol of his company.

"And you're already shaping up to look like the perfect image for Wayne Enterprises. I'm more than sure you'll take the corporate world by storm, Terry." Lucas said.

"Ahem, don't mind me. I was just leaving." Rex spoke up sarcastically.

"Oh right, sorry about that. Lucas, this is Rex Stewart." Terry said, gesturing to his fellow hybrid standing at the doorway.

"Stewart? Now you wouldn't happen to be related to John Stewart and Shayera Hol-Stewart, would you?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, I'm their son. And considering that your old man and Terry's used to do 'late night work' I won't ask how you knew. But damn, does everyone of you eat pages from Sherlock Holmes novels or do I just have a tattoo on my forehead?" Rex asked as he walked over and held out his hand to the CEO.

"Neither one, Rex. It's just that old training from my 'late night work' doesn't go away." Lucas replied and shook Rex's hand.  
"I can imagine. So were you a Boy Wonder back in the day and wore the red and green tights?" Rex asked.

"Oh no. I was a too old for that particular role back then." Lucas said with a chuckle.

"Lucas made up his own identity, Batwing, and joined up with us after he was discharged from his service in the Navy. I wasn't born at the time but I when I was we got to know each other." Terry spoke fondly.

"We sure did. As busy as dad and I were bringing FoxTeca together, we always found time for Terrance." Lucas said, wrapping an arm around Terry's shoulders. "So what brings you two here anyway, Terry?"

"Well Lucas, we wanted to ask you about an employee here that we both mutually know." Terry said.

"And who would that be?" Lucas asked.

"A man named Warren McGinnis. He's my surrogate uncle, and married to Mary McGinnis." Terry replied.

At the mention of the name Lucas's face shifted. Not a whole lot, but just enough for Terry to see the reaction happen. Lucas's face then quickly changed back to it's previous calm expression.

"Warren? Yes, he was a valued associate at FoxTeca. Well on his way to becoming an executive, in fact. And I like to think that we were close friends." Lucas spoke.

"Was? Were? Why all the past tense, Mr. Fox?" Rex asked.

"Yeah. I mean you make it sound as though Warren doesn't work for you anyway." Terry said.

"Well in all honesty, Terry, he doesn't anymore. Warren went on to work for a new company nine months ago. However he does act as a sort of liaison and comes here often to do business with me." Lucas explained as he took a seat down in the chair at the head of the table.

"And as for the part about how you'd like to think you're still friends?" Terry inquired.

"As for that, ever since Warren joined this new company he has been pretty distant. I always saw him as more than an employee when we worked for me. I considered us good friends. And now it seems like we just barely meet the threshold of acquaintances." Lucas explained, looking down sadly at his folded hands.

"We're sorry to hear that, Mr. Fox. I guess if you haven't been that close with Warren lately you wouldn't know exactly what he's doing with this new company." Rex said.

"No, I'm afraid not Rex. But whatever it is he's being run ragged. In the times Warren does come here as a liaison or calls just to say hi he looks and sounds like he swam the English Channel. I can only assume that he's performing a very taxing job." Lucas said.

"I see. Well that certainly explains a few things. I knew that you wouldn't work my uncle and your own friend over to the point that he moved from his own home to another place to focus on some project." Terry said.

"Warren did that? Hmph, I'm not surprised. _He_ would push his employees like that for the sake of production in his company." Lucas said as his face changed into an irritated expression.

"He? Who are you talking about?" Rex asked.

"The man who owns the company that Warren transferred to. Derek Powers, founder and CEO of Powers Industries." Lucas replied.

Before Rex could even speak up to inquire about this Derek person, Terry spoke up. And he spoke in a very angry tone.

"What!? That bastard Powers is doing this to Uncle Warren!?" Terry asked in a loud shout, slamming his hands on the table. Rex was slightly taken aback at this since the Omega is normally so stoic. And while he has seen him angry, this was a whole new level. Obviously whoever this Derek Powers was the very mention of his name left Terry _pissed_.

"As much as I would like to mutually share in this moment of shock and anger, I'm afraid I'm lost. Who is Derek Powers?" Rex asked.

"Derek is the second top ranking CEO here in Gotham City. He has branches all over the USA and even down in South America and some parts of Europe. He's easily one of the most powerful Alphas you can encounter, but if you can help it I would avoid him. Powers is a real nasty character." Lucas explained.

"Nasty is too nice for him. He's been suspected of corruption and dealing with criminals in cases involving industrial espionage. But Barbra could never pin anything on him. Like Lucas said, it's not really surprising that he would push one of his employees like he's doing to Uncle Warren." Terry said, looking at the floor angrily as if it were to blame.

"The way you're talking about this guy, I can't help but wonder if there's a personal reason why you don't like 'em." Rex said.

"Well like I said, Derek is number two on the top list of CEOs. And of course Bruce and his company comes in first. You can probably guess from that alone why Derek and Bruce aren't the best of friends." Lucas said.

"Oh yeah, I get the picture. And somehow I feel that another reason has to do with the esteemed Mr. Wayne-Kent being an Omega. If Powers is the kind of guy I think he is then I'll bet it burns knowing that the fairer faction has a bigger company than a big, tough Alpha." Rex said.

"Exactly. And I have had the displeasure of meeting the bastard in person last year. He actually had the nerve to offer to take up Wayne Enterprises for panjo since I was an Omega too. Like I couldn't lead the company fine on my own! Never have I wished so much to have pops' heat vision and fry someone." Terry said.

"Well I thank biology that you don't, Terry, because that's a corporate incident we don't need. Anyway I wish I could help you boys out but I have to prepare for the upcoming World Trade Conference. But I'll keep my ear to the ground and see what I learn." Lucas said as he grabbed all of his papers and walked to the door with both teens at either side of him.

"Thanks, Lucas. We appreciate the help anyway. Say, did Warren ever tell you why he left for Powers Industries?" Rex asked.

"Hm, now that you mention it I do recall asking him the reason why. And he said that he wanted to work closer with a friend of his that he knew from Gotham University. He actually tried to get his friend to transfer here but he was in poor health and couldn't. So Warren decided to transfer to Powers Industries for his friend's sake." Lucas explained as he opened the door and walked out.

"You said Mr. McGinnis knew this friend from Gotham University. Would his initials be H.T by any chance?" Terry asked.

"Yes as a matter of fact they are. They stand for the name Harry Tully. Anyway I really need to get going and give these papers to my executives. It was nice seeing you boys, though." Lucas said.

"Nice seeing you too, Lucas. Take care." Terry said and he walked away with Rex in the direction they came from while Lucas walked away in the other.

"Well I don't know about you Terry, but I think we just learned something very important." Rex said.

"I think so too. Let's head to the Cave and ask panjo what he knows. I have a strong feeling there's more to this." Terry said.

And so the teens made the long trek to Wayne Manor, but as Terry started to park his car in the usual spot he noticed another car was there. However it wasn't the usual car that Bruce or Clark drive. It was a hover Mustang with an overly bright tacky gold color.

"Let me guess, your folks business associates don't make house calls." Rex said rather than ask.

"No, they sure don't. Let's see who this is." Terry said and parked the hover Cord in another spot before exiting along with Rex. He walked over to the car to inspect it and as he looked over the car's front he saw something he wish he didn't. "Oh damn it."

"What's wrong?" Rex asked.

"I know who this car belongs to, that's what's wrong. Look at the front license plate." The raven haired teen said and stepped aside so Rex could get a good look. When he did he saw that the plate had the logo of Powers Industries.  
"Uh oh. That can't be a sign of something good." Rex said.

"It sure isn't looking like one. Come on, let's go inside." Terry said and practically flew to the door of his house and opened it up with his key. Soon after entering he was greeted by Justin.

"Little master, thank God you came home! I don't know how long I'll be able to keep the tension from rising here." Justin said as he lead the way to the drawing room.

"Justin what the hell's going on? Why is Powers here and why didn't anyone call me?" Terry asked.

"That's my fault. I tried to call you and so did Master C, but he had to play gracious host with Master B while I had to keep anyone from throwing my favorite silver serving platter." Justin said.

"Geeze, it's really that bad?" Rex asked.

"Oh yes. Master B may not lash out like a lot of people would at someone they hate or show it that doesn't mean he isn't livid as hell." Justin said.

The three made it to the drawing and there Terry saw his parents sitting close to each other on the couch while a man was seated in a chair across from them and a red headed woman in a dual black/white revealing suit. The woman standing was Eloise Winston an the man sitting down was none other than Derek Powers. He had alabaster toned skin, natural white hair and was wearing a brown suit with a yellow dress shirt. Derek practically exhausted his Alpha essence in an attempt to flaunt his secondary gender and command the room. However Clark's own Alpha essence was much more dominant and quashed the meager aura of the businessman. Before he announced himself Terry stopped to listen to what the adults were saying.

"Come now, Bruce, listen to reason here. I'm only looking out for your best interests." Derek said.

"You'll pardon me if I don't find much truth in that statement, Powers. And reason tells me _not_ to listen to you. You can give a pie chart saying otherwise and my answer will always be the same; I'm supporting Lucas and FoxTeca at that conference." Bruce stated with a stern expression.

"But I can't understand why you would bother though. After all Mr. Fox and his company are hardly that esteemed. It wouldn't enhance the reputation of Wayne Enterprises whatsoever by supporting him and his company." Derek said.

"I'm not doing this for the sake of promotion. I'm doing this because Lucas is the son of a dear late friend of mine, and I'm more than happy to give him my help. For everything Lucius Fox did for me in the past the least I can do is show my support for his son." Bruce replied.

"Yes well, I'm sure that the _Omega_ in you has that maternal instinct to help children and all. But surely you can understand that when it comes to business we can't coddle one another." Derek said, tone every bit as condescending as his expression.

Looking at the retired heroes Rex could easily see that Bruce's face hardened like liquid nitrogen to water. It was a clear sign that while he wouldn't say anything or show any emotion, as Justin said, he was in fact pissed. And looking at Clark the country alien didn't look anymore pleased by the low-key snide remark. He could see the white surrounding his sky blue eyes slowly turn pink. It seemed like he was going to do what Terry said he wanted to do just a while ago in Lucas's meeting room, and fry the other Alpha. Fortunately Justin interceded by clearing his voice to get everyone's attention.

"Pardon me, gentleman, but Terry came back home along with his friend." Justin announced and stepped aside to let the teens enter the drawing him. At seeing their son the boiling anger Bruce and Clark previously had came down considerably as they smiled in greeting at him.

"Terry, it's good to see you back home." Bruce said in a much more light hearted tone of voice than the short, peeved one he used when speaking to Derek.

"Yes. It's always good to see our dear son." Clark said, leaving out the reason why it was good to see Terry because it prevented him from committing murder.

"Hey panjo, pops. I'm glad I could bring smiles on your faces." Terry spoke with a happy expression, then his face changed as he regarded Derek with a look of barely disguised contempt. "So I see we have guests here."

"Yes. Derek made a surprise visit and invited himself in to talk about the upcoming World Trade Conference." Bruce explained.

"Your daddy is rather unmoving in his choice of who he will support at the conference, Terrance. Perhaps you can get him to listen to reason." Derek said. Terry didn't like the way the man said his full name, it made his skin feel like an itchy layer of some worn material. But he didn't say that to the man's face. Instead he spoke civilly...and savagely.

"And is there a problem with supporting Lucas Fox and his company, Mr. Powers? After all he and his father are close to my panjo and me as well. We're practically family. And family support each other. I would hardly consider that coddling. Especially since Lucas got to this point in his career on his own hard work." Terry replied in his professional tone.

"Ah, so you heard me before. I suppose family like loyalty do hold some significance, but Terrance..." However Derek didn't get a word in edgewise as Terry cut him off and spoke further.

"And it's not just Omegas who feel the same way, Alphas and Betas have the same sentiment as well. As far as reason goes, the fact that Lucas is not only a close friend but also an excellent CEO of his company is amble reason to support him at the World Trade Conference." Terry stated with absolute conviction, and while he appeared stoic he took great pleasure in Derek's shocked face. Obviously the man didn't think that a teenager, certainly not an Omega one, would be able to speak so intelligently and hold their ground.

"...Well, you certainly make a strong argument." Derek forcefully admitted through a false, tight smile.

"As the future CEO of my family's company, it's only natural that I learn to state facts to those who have a hard time understanding them." Terry replied with a smug grin he just couldn't contain. He again took relish in Derek's face, this one looking quite irritated at tactfully disguised yet still obvious insult.

Around him the secretary of the Alpha businessman, Eloise, regarded her boss with a sympathetic look. Clark and Bruce were practically beaming with pride at how Terry handled the older man so well. And from his peripheral vision he could see Justin give a little smirk, and heard Rex stifle a chuckle.

"You certainly do seem rather prepared in the debate department, yes. I suppose it would be a waste of time to ask you to support my company at the conference instead then, Bruce?" Derek asked to the older Wayne-Kent Omega.

"Yes, it could be a considerable waste of time Derek. Especially considering that we hardly have a good history together. And turning around to support you definitely won't do any good to the reputation of Wayne Enterprises. So you wasted half a tank of gas for nothing." Bruce replied calmly and left no room for the other man to try and wriggle his way in for persuasion.

"So it seems. It is a shame, though. We could have made great partners." Derek said as he pretended to sound heartbroken.

"You know what there say, Powers, there are other chances around the corner." Clark said.

"True indeed. At any rate Miss Winston and my other associate will see ourselves out." Derek said.

"Other associate?" Rex asked, speaking up after having kept quiet for so long.

"That would be me, honey." Said a new voice and the teens looked towards a shadowy corner in the room, and out from it stepped a shapely feminine figure.

Terry couldn't make out the woman completely but he did see that she was wearing a long length, light brown pea coat and a matching light brown hat. She seemed to be wearing black boots that went up to her knees and had shoulder length, wavy black hair. The odd thing was that her skin, from what he could see past the turned up coat collar, was an odd hue. It almost seemed as though it was...grey.

"This is my personal bodyguard who I have recently employed. I never travel anywhere without her." Derek said, gesturing to the woman.

"Odd, I don't recall noticing you come in along with Derek and Eloise." Bruce said with an eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"That's pretty much the point, Mr. Wayne-Kent, otherwise I wouldn't be good at my job. I protect Mr. Powers best by sticking to him like an ink stain on skin. And you'd be surprised how little pay attention to ink stains." The mysterious woman in the pea coat, said, grinning widely from under her hat.

"Huh?" Terry asked in confusion at this.

"You'll have to forgive my bodyguard. She likes to talk in riddles. Let us be on our way, ladies. Good day Bruce, Mr. Kent." Derek said, giving a small wave at the couple before walking out with Eloise and the mysterious woman left the drawing room with Justin showing them out.

"Boy is he some piece of work. I think I'm starting understand why you don't like this guy, Terry." Rex said, crossing his arms as he watched the other Alpha leave.

"Glad we're on the same page. I can't believe he had the nerve to just walk in here like he owned the place." Terry said with a peeved expression and hands on his hips.

"Don't worry about it, son. At least gave Derek a few choice words. I'm really proud of you." Clark said, walking over to give Terry an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder.

"So am I. You will definitely be a great head of Wayne Enterprises one of these days." Bruce added as he came over and ruffled his son's hair.

"Thanks, panjo. But as much as I would like to brag about how I owned Powers there was something Rex and I wanted to tell you guys." Terry said.

"And it actually seems to be connected to Derek Powers in some kind of way." Rex inputted.

"Is that so? Well then let's go to the Bat Cave and talk it over. Justin, can you hold down the fort up here?" Clark asked as the paprika-pepper haired butler walked into the drawing room.

"No problem, Master C. If we get anymore surprise guests like Powers I'll just tell them you're all busy." Justin said.

"Thank you, Justin. Let's head down below then." Bruce said and the group of four went to the private study.

Meanwhile, as Eloise Winston drove down the road in the gold hover Mustang car Derek Powers was speaking with his bodyguard.

"That was a rather foolish move you made, my dear." Derek said to the woman seated next to him.

"Whatever do you mean, Mr. Powers?" Asked the lady.

"That comment you made about ink. That could have given you away if you carried on." Derek said as he looked at the woman with a disapproving look. In response the mystery woman just scoffed in amusement.

"Relax, Mr. Powers. I seriously doubt they would have guessed that ink is part of my actual name and learn that I'm not your new bodyguard." Said the woman and she removed her coat and hat to reveal slick, tar like body of blue and black coloring while her face was ash grey.

"Regardless I wasn't about to take that chance. I didn't hire you for this job just to get caught early into it because of a slip of the tongue, Inque. There is no margin for error." Derek stated.

"So you have been telling me. But what you _haven't_ told me is what exactly this job is. After all I won't be able to charge you accordingly to my set prices if I don't know what brand of industrial espionage I'm to perform." Inque said as she leaned back and crossed her legs.

"Set prices? From what I've been told the only set prices you have are expensive and more expensive." Derek said with a deadpan look.

"They're still set prices though. So what's the job?" Inque asked. Derek leaned down and grabbed a suitcase then opened it and pulled out a manila folder.

"Your job is to arrange a demonstration for a product I intend to sell to a special client at the World Trade Conference." Derek explained as he handed Inque the folder. She opened it and scanned her marble black eyes over it before letting out a whistle.

"Well, well. This sounds like a rather special job that has a 'more expensive' price tag." Inque said.

"If your success rate is as good as you claim, my dear, it will be well worth the credits." Derek said with a sinister grin.

At the same time Terry and Rex were down in the Cave with Bruce and Clark. The teenagers told the retired heroes everything they have discovered from what Mary said about Warren to the connection that seems to involve him, Derek Powers and Warren's friend Harry Tully. After getting the full story Clark started calling some reporter contacts he had in Gotham City while Bruce did a little hacking into the private employee files of Powers Industries. Meanwhile Rex and Terry were going over their notes on this odd domestic case at the table while using a hard-light chart to connect the series of events.

"Alright, so we know that nine months ago Warren left FoxTeca to work at Powers Industries. This was the same time that he moved out of the house with Mary and your half brother Matt." Rex said as he used a stylus to draw a digital blue line going from the label 'left FoxTeca Corporation' to 'transferred to Powers Industries' and stopped it at 'moved out of family home'.

"Yes. And he gave two different stories to cousin Lucas and Aunt Mary as to why he was leaving. Uncle Warren told Aunt Mary that he was moving out because his boss wanted him to focus on a big project. But he told Lucas that he wanted to transfer so he could be closer to his sick friend Harry Tully." Terry said and used a stylus to draw a digital line from a picture of Mary McGinnis to the story Warren told her, then drew another line from a picture of Lucas Fox to the story Warren told him.

"Looking at the story Warren told Mary, it sounds like she didn't even know he transferred to Powers Industries. That could also explain why she didn't question it further since she knew Lucas. Why would he give two completely different stories to his former boss and his wife?" Rex asked.

"In terms of Aunt Mary, he probably lied to her so she wouldn't worry about what he was doing. I think whatever is going on has to do with this friend of his, Harry Tully." Terry said, using the stylus to draw a circle around the name in question.

"I think you got a point, fruit bat. But so far we only have a name and no face to this friend." Rex said.

"You have a face now! Come over and look at this!" Called out Bruce. The teens got up from the table and walked over to the Bat Computer where the former Dark Knight was sitting.

"What did you find, panjo?" Terry asked as he looked up at the large super computer.

"It took a while longer than anticipated, but I found the employee file on Harry Tully." Bruce said as he pulled up the file.

With a digital ping the complete file came up on one Harry Tully. Looking at him Terry and Rex saw that he was an average looking man with red hair and brown eyes. The looked over the basics of his file, like his place of birth and secondary gender, when their eyes saw something odd. In a part of the file where it would normally show an employee's activity throughout their time working with the company, there was a large timeline of activity missing. Almost as if it was removed by someone. What made this go from odd to suspicious is the length of time that was taken out of this activity log; nine months. And after that it lists Harry as having been discharged from Powers Industries.

"Nine whole months of Harry's activity in the company is completely gone. That can't just be a coincidence." Terry said in a tone of suspicion.

"And it says that he was fired from Powers' company, too. Why would Warren go to work for a company that let go of his best friend? He wasn't there at the time he transferred so it couldn't have been to reconnect with him like he told Lucas." Rex said.

"Hm...Maybe he wasn't transferring to reconnect with Harry, but to find out why he was fired." Terry surmised.

"That would explain a great deal of things, yes." Bruce said in agreement. Just then Clark came over to the group at the Bat Computer.

"Alright, thanks Jeanette. I owe you big time for this." Clark spoke to the person on the phone and hung up.

"You got something too, pops?" Terry asked.

"Yes. An anchor friend of mine just told me that she did an interview with Warren about a secret project he's supposed to be helping Powers with." Clark explained.

"So there _was_ some truth to the story Warren told Mary. Did she say what the project was about?" Rex asked.

"Unfortunately no. However she did learn that the project was for the development of a product that Derek Powers plans to sell to a VIP client. And here's the kicker; he's meeting this client at the World Trade Conference this weekend." Clark explained.

"World Trade Conference? Terry, didn't you say Lucas mentioned the WTC when you and Rex went to talk to him?" Bruce asked.

"Yes he did. And now that you mention it, Derek did mention it when he popped up here too." Terry said as he stroked his chin in thought.

"I'm no great detective but my inner senses are telling me this is shaping up into one big case." Rex said.

"I think you're right, Rex. Panjo is there anyway you can find out either who this VIP client is or what this product Derek is trying to sell is about?" Terry asked.

"I'm afraid not, son. I was only able to get to Harry's employee file because that's a matter of public record. If Derek is keeping secrets like I think he is, anything having to do with this VIP client and this product he's selling will be on his private computer in his office. And though we have come a long way in technology I wouldn't be able to get access to files like that from here without being directly linked into the data hubs at Powers Industries." Bruce explained.

"However, if a bat and a bird managed to make their way into the office after hours and link into the data hub that could help." Clark added with a hinting tone and a wink.

"Say no more, pops. Me and Rex will get into the data hub to figure out just what Derek is up to. And since the World Trade Conference is coming up this weekend we should probably do this on Friday." Terry said.

"Fine by me. I don't have any plans for this Friday night anyway." Rex said.

"And we'll be here to help you both out in the mean time." Bruce spoke with a smile.

"Thanks, panjo. I just hope that we can find out what's going on soon. I have a very bad feeling that whatever is going on isn't something good...and there may already be a casualty." Terry said as he looked at the picture of Harry in the employee file, an unpleasant feeling of dread pooling in his stomach.

 _Neo Gotham, Friday night 1:50AM. Powers Industries Headquarters..._

After waiting for the week to progress further Friday finally came. Batman and Warhawk waited until the dead of night when they were sure that no one would be at the corporate building. They flew side by side on the winds of a somewhat humid night as they made their way to the large building. Once they got within a few yards of it Batman used the Detective Mode of his cowl to scan for any heat signatures. Thankfully only five came up on the scan, most likely the janitor and a few security guards, and he nodded to Warhawk that it was clear to proceed. The heroes flew to the rooftop of the building and landed down on quietly right underneath the sign. Once they tucked in their respective wings Batman contacted Justin.

"Alright, Justin, we're at Powers Industries. Are you and panjo ready?" Batman asked.

 **"Ready and able, little master. I'm about to hack into the security feed and sync it to you're cowl so you can see where the guards are coming. Last thing we need is for the protector of Gotham to explain why he's visiting a business after hours."** Justin said over the comm-link.

 **"And I'm on standby to hack into Derek's files when you get access to the data hubs."** Bruce added.

"Great. Now let's make our way inside." Batman said to Warhawk.

"And not going to be that old 'crawl through the vent' bit. I'm kinda hard to fit in small spaces on my own. And the wings just make it harder." Warhawk said, flexing his wings to show emphasis.

"Don't worry, that's not what we're going to do. We're going to enter through the sign." Batman said, pointing up at the building's sign.

"Enter through the sign? Sounds to me like you've been hanging upside down for too long, Batman." Warhawk said.

"I mean through the maintenance door in the sign that leads into the building, turkey vulture." Batman replied with a glare.

"Ah. Well that makes more sense. I was worried you lost it for a second." Warhawk replied with a grin, then scaled up the giant letters of the sign along with the Knight of Tomorrow.

After reaching the middle between the illuminated 'Powers' and 'Industries' words of the sign the pair nimbly made their way across until they reached the maintenance door. Batman studied the locking mechanism for a moment and realized he was facing an unexpected obstacle. What he was hoping to be a standard electronic lock to hack was a more traditional lock. As he was about to use a Batarang to pick the lock Warhawk stepped in and offered his help. Using his metallic manipulation he morphed the tip of the nth metal armor surrounding his index finger into a skeleton key shape. Warhawk then thrust the makeshift key into the keyhole and after a single twist the door opened. Acting like a gentleman the half Thanagarian bowed and gestured for Batman to go first, who grinned and rolled his eyes but went ahead anyway.

From there it was a matter of reaching linking the Bat Computer to the data hubs. With four hubs in total the heroes split up, taking two each. Justin made sure to keep them in the know whenever a guard was coming their way so they could hide. While both teens were more than capable of subduing a few middle aged Beta male guards it would only expose their infiltration. Though Warhawk was a little disappointed that he wouldn't be able to bash any skulls Batman assured him he would get his chance. Finally they connected the hacking devices into all four data hubs on the different floors of the large building and met up at their rendezvous point on the top floor.

"Panjo, Warhawk and I placed the hacking devices into the data hubs." Batman said over the comm-link.

 **"Great work. I'm in Derek's files now. The both of you should be able to access everything on his computer."** Bruce said.

"Got it. Warhawk, keep watch while I hack the lock." Batman said as he went to work on opening the digital security door that kept them from Derek's office.

Warhawk nodded and stood on alert, scanning the area from left to right with his night vision he inherited from his mother's side. After a moment Batman finally hacked the lock and they quickly scurried into the office. Luckily the blinds were down so no one could look into the office through the clear glass. But while this added to their cover they still couldn't idle with the job. A guard could come in for a rounds check at any given moment, so the stakes couldn't be higher at this point. Batman immediately went over to Derek's desk, his computer already turned on after Bruce hacked into the system, and immediately started tapping away at the keyboard to open up the secret files.

"Alrighty, let's see what Mr. Powers is hiding." Warhawk said as he looked over the Omega hero's shoulder.

"Well among the fact that he's been taking bribes from other companies he's merged with, he's been hiding Harry Tully's real employee activity log. The one panjo found was probably a fake for public record purposes." Batman said.

"So what does the real one say?" Warhawk asked.

"Hm...It's mostly a log on his health and not his actual performance in the company. And it looks like he was experiencing different ailment symptoms. Excessive sweating, chronic tiredness, loss of appetite, osteoarthritis, skin outbreaks and so on. I guess Uncle Warren wasn't lying when he told Lucas he was concerned about Harry's health." Batman explained as he read the file.

"And look at this. Every time Harry was too sick to perform his shift someone else would cover for him and take him to the hospital. Look at the name of the kind co-worker." Warhawk said, pointing at a part in the hidden file on the screen.

"Warren McGinnis. And if he took Mr. Tully to the hospital he probably learned what was wrong with him." Batman said.

"You think his medical files are here, too? If Powers would hide the fact that his employee was majorly ill he'd most likely hide the reason why he was sick." Warhawk said.

"I think you're right. Let's see..." Batman said and searched through the files for a moment before finding medical files from Gotham General Hospital. "Aha! Says that the doctors diagnosed Harry with a toxin related disease of some kind after having been exposed constantly to hazardous chemicals. And Powers Industries could be at fault for the exposure because Harry worked in their biochemistry branch."

"So Powers went through all this trouble to hide evidence of a slam dunk workman's compensation suit?" Warhawk asked.

"Sounds like something he would do, but I don't think that's it. Let's find out if there's anything about this secret project Uncle Warren was working on for that product Derek is planning on selling." Batman said and searched through the files again. After a moment he found one folder that seem to contain what he was looking for.

"The file name is...'The Demonstration'? What does that mean?" Warhawk asked.

"I'll tell you what I know it isn't, a file about a regular company demonstration. Let's see." Batman said and clicked on the file.

And when he did, he hit pay dirt. Almost immediately tens of hundreds of file documents popped up about the secret project. With every word the heroes read from each file the blood drained from their faces and their hearts thumped with dread. According to the files, Derek Powers has been working on a viral nerve gas he intends to sell. The gas itself has been in it's final stages of development to make it lethally perfect and has been continuously tested on Harry Tully, which accounts for the odd ailment symptoms he's been having for the last nine months. And to avoid suspicion he's been kept in a private laboratory, the location of which wasn't listed in the files, for observation and study. Also in the files were formulas that Warren created for Powers under the assumption that they were going to be used for industrial purposes. But in reality those formulas were going into the creation of the nerve gas. In addition to all this the name of the VIP client was mentioned in a copied email correspondence. A man named Vilmos Egans, who serves as the finance minister of the small yet powerful European country known as Kaznia.

"Good God...I don't believe this. That bastard is making a nerve gas." Warhawk spoke in horrified shock.

"And then he made up the fake employee activity log so no one would be any the wiser while he perfected the gas at Harry's expense to sell to this VIP client." Batman said.

"You say no one was any the wiser, but what about Warren? I mean he did get the phone call from Harry nine months ago, which was when he transferred to Powers Industries. And he was the one who would take Harry to the hospital whenever he got real sick. He had to have found out somehow." Warhawk said.

Just then, before Batman could give any further opinion on it, the door of the office opened up. And then the light switched on with a 'click'. The heroes felt their hearts stop and their blood run cold. They looked up to see who it was and Batman gasped. It was none other than Warren McGinnis, dressed in a plain brown suit and wearing those square-framed glasses that he remembered fondly playing with when he was a kid and would visit his surrogate uncle. However this wasn't a happy family reunion. As far as Warren knew he wasn't even looking at the boy who he called a nephew. He was looking at the new generation of nightly vigilante with another new generation of hero at his side, hacking into his boss's computer. Warren's face was filled with stunned surprise as his eyes bulged behind his spectacles. There was nothing but silence in that span of a minute that felt more like the span of an eternity. Then finally Warren spoke up.

"Batman?" Warren asked, then looked over to Warhawk. "...And an extremely tall metal bird man."

"I'm a hawk, damn it! And it's Warhawk!" The young Alpha hero angrily corrected.

"Mr. McGinnis, I this must be an immense surprise for you but please stay calm. We're only here to learn the truth about what Derek Powers is up to before anyone get's hurt." Batman explained, raising his hands up in a show of peace to keep the man calm. Warren, who's shock had dwindled down by now, took in a deep breath before exhaling. Then he gave a small laugh.

"That's just fantastic." Warren said.

"Um...Excuse me?" Batman asked, looking a tad bewildered at the statement.

"Don't look so surprised, Dark Knight. I've been waiting for you to catch onto Powers for a very long time." Warren replied.

"You have? But why?" Warhawk asked.

"I'd like to explain, but here isn't good. Let's meet at the office of my real boss." Warren said, piquing the interest of the duo.

"Your real boss?" Batman asked in surprise.

"Yes. But like I said it isn't safe here. So let's get out of here and just follow my car." Warren said and left the office quickly.

At this both Warhawk and Batman looked at each other in surprise. But as shocked as they were they couldn't stay here any longer, both because they wanted answers from Warren and because they knew that the guards are most likely still doing rounds. So after collecting the hacking devices from the data hubs they immediately vacated from the building and followed after Warren. They saw the man enter his car and he drove off soon after. Without a moment's hesitation they flew off and copied the same directions he was taking. After minutes of following Warren the pair started to wonder where he was leading them to. And finally they got their answer when they looked ahead to see the one and only FoxTeca Corporation building.

"What!? We're back at FoxTeca? What does this mean?" Batman asked.

 **"I think it means that your uncle told your cousin a lot more than a cover story, little master."** Justin said over the comm-link.

"Looks like it. I wonder what Lucas will have to say about this." Batman said as he flew up to the windows to look for Lucas and found him in the same meeting room on the conference floor where they met earlier yesterday. And as they entered through an open window on the floor and walked towards the meeting room they were met by Warren as he walked up the stairs.

"Ah, glad to see you've made it. I'm sorry for being so secretive back at Powers Industries, but as you can guess this is a sensitive situation." Warren said and walked the rest of the way to the door of the meeting room and pushed it open. Lucas was standing at the head of the table like before with his back turned as he looked over some papers. Then he turned around to look at Warren and gave a friendly smile.

"Warren, I was afraid that you wouldn't make it here for a moment." Lucas siad.

"No worries Lucas, everything went well. I just had met a surprise encounter with two potential allies." Warren said and stepped aside so that Batman and Warhawk could enter. Lucas looked surprised for a moment at the mere sight but then relaxed and gave a knowing smile.

"Well, if it isn't the fabled protector of the night and his metal winged ally. I suppose it was only a matter of time before you found out." Lucas said.

"I'm not called the World's Greatest Detective for show, Mr. Fox. However I have to say I wasn't expecting to find you at the heart of this investigation." Batman said.

"So what's the deal here? Why is Warren at Powers Industries if he's working for you still?" Warhawk asked.

"Well to put it very simply, Warhawk, I'm a mole. And Lucas had me infiltrate Powers Industries by working there." Warren started.

"Yes. For the last three years I've been working alongside the government in order to nail Derek's ass to the wall for all of his connections with the criminal underground. And we got word that he was developing a certain brand of product to sell at the World Trade Conference." Lucas explained further.

"The nerve gas meant to be sold to the Kaznia finance minister." Batman inputted.

"Right. Vilmos Egans has been suspected of using his position in the Kaznian government for years to provide small banana republics with major grade chemical weapons. But no one has ever been able to prove anything." Warren said.

"And when we found out that Egans was looking to do business with Derek Powers, my associate Mr. McGinnis and I got the idea to use him as a form of bait. With Warren's extensive training in biochemistry we knew that Powers wouldn't turn down his transfer and gave him an executive position right on the spot." Lucas explained.

"Originally the plan was for me to do this a little later around the time the World Trade Center was a week away from starting. But then...I got a phone call from Harry Tully. And when he explained the symptoms...I knew what Powers was doing to him." Warren said, his voice cracking with emotion as he recounted the call he had with his friend.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. McGinnis. I know this must be hard for you. But you have to tell us where Mr. Tully is so we can ask him some question about this." Warhawk spoke in a rare gentle tone.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Warhawk. You see over the past nine months that Harry was kept and used to further test the effectiveness of the gas his body took a considerable turn for the worse." Lucas said and pulled out two photos from the inside pocket of his suit, handing them to Batman. "Take a look for yourself. Warren managed to get these photos from a camera's SD card before Powers had it destroyed. This is what that nerve gas is capable of in it's perfected state."

Batman took the pictures and gave them both a look. And instantly he felt horror strike him in the heart and bile shooting up to his throat with the threat to spew forth. In one picture it showed Harry laying on a metal gurney and dark red blotches covered his entire body and his head was left bald, most likely a side effect from the chemicals. He looked like he was in so much pain to the point where he could almost imagine him screaming prior to this picture being taken. The second photograph was even worse as it showed a pile of ash-like skin. And there was no doubt in his mind that this pile of skin was Harry Tully.

"This is horrible...Does his family know?" Batman asked to Warren who solemnly shook his head.

"No. Harry had no family and was a loner. The perfect employee to use as a test subject, the one no body would ask about." Warren said with a hateful look on his face.

"So is that why you transferred to Powers Industries to work as a mole sooner?" Warhawk asked.

"Yes. I thought that maybe I could talk Harry into quitting Powers Industries so he could go away somewhere and get treatment. But Harry...he was never a strong man. He was so easily manipulated and controlled by Powers that I couldn't do anything to convince him to leave. Even still I should have pushed harder and made him leave that God awful place." Warren said, now looking depressed.

"Don't beat yourself up, Warren. It wasn't your fault. After the World Trade Conference the days were Mr. Powers manipulates and uses people will be over." Lucas assured.

"And Warhawk and I certainly won't let this stand, Mr. McGinnis. We'll help you and see to it personally that Derek is put behind bars." Batman said, resting a comforting hand on Warren's shoulder. The man blinked in surprise before giving a smile.

"Thank you, Batman. I truly appreciate that." Warren said gratefully.

"Well now that we're all on the same side and have compared notes, our next order of business is to learn where Derek is going to use the nerve gas for it's grand scale test." Lucas said.

"We didn't see any mention of something like that in the files we hacked. So he's probably keeping that part a secret in his head." Warhawk said.

"I'll keep an eye on him at work then. Listen to his phone calls and observe who he talks to. It may lead us to the location." Warren suggested.

"Good idea, Warren. We'll all need our A-game though and stay on alert. Derek Powers will most likely perform the final big test of the gas the day of the World Trade Conference just so that the news can report on it's effectiveness at the cost of many lives." Lucas said.

"We'll keep ourselves on stand by as well, Mr. Fox." Batman said.

"I guess that settles everything then. I better heard home and get what few hours of sleep I can. So long." Warren said and waved off the heroes and Lucas then left.

"Well, this was definitely how I was planning to visit you again Lucas." Batman said looking at the colored Alpha.

"Sorry for the secrecy Terry, but this was a high priority mission that I had to keep secret. For what it's worth though I had a feeling you would have learned the truth at some point." Lucas said.

"Heh, charming your way out of trouble won't work. Still I forgive you." Batman said.

"At least now we're prepared for whatever Derek Powers is up to." Warhawk said.

However, the men were not as prepared as they thought. Outside in the parking lot Warren was getting into his car and was totally unaware that he was being watched. Then after he drove off the shapely tar-like figure of Inque literally slip out of the shadow she melded into for camouflage. After watching the man leave she pulled out her phone and called Derek.

"Oh Mr. Powers? I have some interesting news to share about your favorite executive." Inque said over the phone.

 _Neo Gotham, day of the World Trade Conference 6:38PM. The Bat Cave..._

Ever since the early morning Terry and Rex have been in the Bat Cave pacing around. They were dressed almost completely in their suits with only their heads left uncovered, both anxiously holding on to their respective mask and helmet. The teens were very anxious as they waited for Lucas to call them. He said that he would let them know where the nerve gas was going to be tested as soon as Warren came to his office and told them. But it was already past six thirty and the World Trade Conference starts at eight PM. What if something happened to Warren, and Derek had him killed before he could tell them anything? Terry wanted so badly to Warren and check on him but it would be very difficult to explain how Batman had Warren McGinnis's personal phone that he gave to family and friends. Then suddenly, after twelve more minutes of waiting, Justin came down the stairs.

"Little master, you have a guest who wishes to see you urgently." Justin said.

"I'm sorry Justin, but I don't have time to play host. Tell them to come back tomorrow." Terry said.

"With all due respect I think you'll want to see this guest. It's Warren McGinnis." Justin said. At this Terry turned his head up to look at the paprika-pepper haired butler in shock.

"Uncle Warren? He's here?" Terry asked in shock.

"Yes. And he wishes to see you as soon as possible." Justin said.

"Oh man. We better change out of our suits before we go up to meet him." Rex said.

"That won't be necessary, Rex." Said the voice of Bruce and everyone looked up the stairs to see him and Clark coming down...with Warren behind them.

"Panjo! Pops! What are you!?...Uncle Warren is...!" Terry stuttered in shock as he pointed at Warren in shock.

"It's alright, Terry. Warren said that Lucas told him everything." Clark said.

"He gave him an envelope, saying to read it in case something bad ever happened before they could finish the mission tonight. And just recently something _very bad_ happened." Bruce explained.

"Let me guess, Powers." Rex said with a knowing glare.

"Yes...A few hours ago, I got a call from some woman. She said that...she was an associate of Derek. It didn't sound like his secretary Eloise Winston or any of the other women at the company though." Warren struggled to say.

"That must be the new lady bodyguard Powers had with him a few days ago when he came here." Terry said, now over his previous shock to focus on the situation at hand.

"What did the woman say, Warren?" Clark asked gently. Warren looked down as he tried to find the will to speak, then after a particularly painful sigh he spoke again.

"She said that...She followed me from Powers Industries. And that she saw me go to meet Lucas. Then she...called Derek, and told him what I did. And then she said that...Matt...and Mary would get to see how...the nerve gas works." Warren said and finally he broke down into tears. "When I went to the house...it was a complete wreck! They're gone! And it's all my fault!"

"No, Warren. It's not your fault. You couldn't have seen this coming. And if anyone is to blame it's Derek Powers." Bruce said as he kept Warren steady as he literally quaked from his sobbing.

"We promise Warren, we'll get them back for you." Clark added determinedly.

"And what of Mr. Fox? You said that he gave you a letter to open in case things were to get bad." Justin said.

"Yes...He gave it to me a week prior to the time the WTC was about to start. But as of this moment, I'm afraid...that Lucas is in the same amount of danger as Mary and Matt." Warren spoke as he tried to regain his composure.

"What do you mean by that?" Rex asked, desperately hoping the man wouldn't say what he felt he was going to say.

"The woman on the phone told me that the effectiveness of the gas would be displayed...at the FoxTeca Corporation building. With Lucas and some employees still inside." Warren replied in an ominous tone.

The room practically froze as everyone looked at the mustached Beta male in horror. Terry and Rex looked especially petrified. They saw the pictures of what this gas was capable of. And the thought of Lucas, Matt, Mary and all of those innocent people being reduced to piles of skin...it was a terrible thought. One they would not let come to pass.

"Uncle Warren, I promise you personally that this test demonstration is not going to take anymore lives. Not like it took your friend Harry's. I won't allow it." Terry stated with a sure look.

"Yeah! We'll storm FoxTeca Corporation and catch them by surprise." Rex said.

"That won't work. The security force field that we used to protect the building against severe weather conditions is up. And the system controlling it was created by Lucas so it's practically hack proof. So a frontal assault is impossible." Warren said, then looked down as he stroked his chin in thought. "Although..."

"Although what?" Clark urged on.

"There may still be a way we can surprise them. As you can expect the woman on the phone gave me a ransom. She said to bring all of the evidence Lucas and I had collected on Powers. Now for that moment the force field will be down. And that'll be your chance." Warren explained.

"A regular Trojan Horse infiltration. I like it. Justin, let's get the Bat Mobile ready. I have a feeling it'll be needed." Bruce said.

"Right away, Master B." Justin said and hurried off to prep the car along with Bruce.

"And I'll call a friend of mine in the government to have officers of the Kaznian government pick up Mr. Egans later at the World Trade Center." Clark said and took out his cellphone then proceeded to call a certain phone number.

"Wow...All these years I thought I was friends with a regular pair of jet-setting soccer dads. And the kid who I always saw as a nephew was just a regular boy." Warren paused as he looked over Terry. "But all this time, you all have been fighting the good fight."

"Yeah. I know this is pretty shocking, Uncle Warren, but I don't regret doing what I do. Not ever." Terry said.

"I know, Terry. And I'm glad that you find this all worthwhile. But when this is all over, and if we come out of this alive, can you..." Warren paused and whispered the last part in Terry's ear. The Omega hero blinked in surprise but then smiled and nodded.

"Of course. Well you better get ready for the trade off." Terry said.

"Right. I'll be waiting in my car. And Terry...Batman...Thank you." Warren said and headed back upstairs.

"What did he say to you?" Rex asked to Terry.

"You'll find out when this is over." Terry said, then slipped on his mask.

Less than half an hour later, Warren was driving to the FoxTeca Corporation building. He had a steely determined look on his face as he got closer and closer to the corporate headquarters that was now keeping his family and boss prisoner along with several other people. But today he was going to put an end to that. Even though it would cost him the solid case he helped to develop against Powers, he had to do it in order to save his family. Once close to the building of FoxTeca the mustached Beta male drove to the underground warehouse where all of the important materials were kept. As he drove up to the entrance of the underground facility one of Powers' goons gave him a look over, especially checking his car, before letting him inside. Warren drove further into the warehouse that was beneath the great modern building before he stopped when he saw Derek Powers and his cronies standing in the middle of the room waiting. The man stepped out of the car as calmly as possible and walked over, looking to the place to see where everything was. To the right he saw ten canisters that were possibly twenty gallons each huddled together with a time release device on one of them. To the left to see several FoxTeca employees tied up. And so were Lucas, Matt and Mary. Before he could talk to them Derek spoke up.

"Well, dear Mr. McGinnis. I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up." Derek said in a mock sweet tone.

"Spare me. You knew that I wouldn't risk the life of my family and not show, Powers." Warren stated with a glare.

"Warren?!" Mary asked in shock at the sight of her husband.

"Dad?!" Matt asked, equally shocked. The man looked over at his family and gave an assuring smile.

"Don't worry, you two. I promise this will all turn out okay." Warren said.

"I would hold off on making promises, Warren, until I see that incriminating file you made about me." Derek said.

"It's right here." Warren said, pulling out a rigid diskette from his pocket then looking to Lucas with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry Mr. Fox. But I had no choice."

"There's no need to explain, Warren. I understand. You made the right choice and I would've done the same." Lucas said.

"Indeed, Mr. McGinnis, you have made the right choice. Now if you'll just kick the diskette over to me this can all end." Derek said.

Warren glared at the man before setting the diskette on the ground then pushing it all the way over to Derek. The man knelt down to pick it up then looked it over. Afterwards he gave a nod of approval.

"Very good. And I trust this is the only copy, and you don't have any others stashed away." The white haired Alpha said.

"It is. Unlike you Derek I really _am_ a man of my word. Now let everyone go." Warren ordered.

"Hm...No, I'm afraid not. You see I still need to display how my nerve gas works before the finance minister of Kaznia buys it. And it's no good to let the gas off in an empty building. Then of course there's the matter of you knowing all this." Derek said.

"So what, you'll knock me out and I'll be one of the guinea pigs for this twisted experiment? Like how Harry was?" Warren asked and though he looked and sounded calm for the most part his eyes were full of hatred.

"Oh no, Mr. McGinnis. You did bring the files to use so your death will be a relatively quick one. Plus you won't have to see your family suffer." A woman in a light brown pea coat and matching hat said as she pulled out a gun and aimed it directly at Warren.

"Hmph. Even to the very end you have someone else finish off people who beat you at your own game. You're one poor loser, Derek." Warren said.

"Perhaps I'm a poor loser in spirit, yes. But I'll be a rich loser after the sale of this nerve gas. For what it's worth though I'll make a little commemorative marble and gold plaque for you in the office to highlight your outstanding service to me." Derek replied with a heartless grin.

"Actually Derek, you'll want to make that plaque in commemoration for something else." The mustached Beta male said.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Derek asked.

"A plaque in commemoration of when the manipulator got manipulated. NOW!" Warren shouted and ducked out of the way, covering his head with as he laid on his stomach.

At first everyone was confused as to why he would do this, until they got their answer when a car suddenly materialized right where Warren once stood. But it wasn't just any car. It was the Bat Mobile. Before any of Derek's goons could react three metallic whip like cables shot out of the vehicle and unhinged grappling claws. The cables latched onto three goons and shocked them with an intense but not lethal pulse of electricity that brought them down immediately. Then the car itself opened and out came Warhawk and Batman like bullets being shot out of a gun. Warhawk gave a battle shout as he tackled two goons hard into the ground then picked up two more and tossed them into a wall while also using his nth metal wings to deflect gun shots and make them ricochet to the shooters and knick them in the legs. Batman meanwhile bombarded a group of five more goons a flurry of fast kicks and punches, gracefully flipping and performing splits to evade their attempts to attack him. In a matter of moments all of the goons were taken out and the heroes stood side by side, still in battle ready positions.

"Well, Derek Powers I presume. Batman and Warhawk. Pleased to beat you." The Knight of Tomorrow greeted with witty sarcasm.

"And from us taking down your goons and having you cornered, you're beaten in every way." Warhawk said.

"Ha! I'll admit, this was a surprise I wasn't expecting. And I am legitimately impressed that you pulled this off Warren. However I'm not without a trump card of my own." Derek said, gesturing to the woman in the light brown pea coat and hat.

"Some trump card. No offense lady but you don't look like you can fight a kitten." Batman said.

"Oh, no offense taken. But you of all people should know Batman, that looks can be deceiving." The woman said and raised her hand up...then a stream of black tar shot forward and smacked the dark hero right across the face.

"Ugh!" Batman exclaimed in pain as his body flew across the warehouse floor.

"Batman!" Warhawk exclaimed in shock and rushed to his aid. As he helped his fellow hybrid up the two looked at the woman and saw her take off her coat and hat to reveal a black and blue tar like humanoid figure and her beautiful ash grey face slowly morphed to match the rest of her body with a large, white oval shaped dot where her face was.

"The name's Inque, gentlemen. And in my case I don't need a pen's help to be mighty. But I can make my own swords." Inque said and her tendril arms hardened and formed into the shapes of cutlass blades, then with a shout she charged at them.

While Warhawk and Batman were busy tangling with Inque Derek rushed over to the ten gas canisters and worked to turn on the timer to release the nerve gas. Thankfully, just before he could turn it on, Warren rushed at him and tackled the Alpha businessman to the ground. The two men tussled on the ground but Warren got the upper hand and pinned Derek to the ground, first headbutting to disorient him and then giving him a hard punch.

"This doesn't begin to cover the pain you put Harry through with your experiment, but it's a damn good down payment!" Warren stated as he kept punching Derek. As the mustached Beta male continuously assaulted him Derek pulled out a small caliber gun from his pocket and shot Warren right in his shoulder. Warren howled in pain as he clutched his shoulder.

"Dad!" Matt shouted in horror.

"Warren, no!" Mary shouted as well.

Lucas, who was watching on with an anxious look, worked faster to pick the lock of the chains that had his wrists bound behind his back. He was thankful he remembered Bruce's number one lesson – never leave home without a Bat Lockpick. And as Derek kicked Warren off him and pointed the gun directly at his head he was finally able to free his wrists. Immediately Lucas rose to his feet and rushed over.

"You know what, Warren? You were right before. I am indeed a very sore loser. So much so that I won't allow a man who has twice tricked me to live any longer." Derek said as he cocked the gun.

"Tch, you're so arrogant that you think you can decide how long people get to live like their lives don't matter." Warren said with an expression mixed with disgust at the man standing over him and pain at the gunshot wound in his should.

"Well there is a natural order to things. Only the strong survive in this cutthroat world." Derek said.

"You couldn't be more right, Powers!" Warren exclaimed as he kicked the gun out of Derek's hand and then made a two punch combo, one to Derek's face and another to his side, then grabbed the man by the collar and tossed him several feet away. He immediately bent down to Warren and helped him up. "You alright, Warren?"

"Ugh...Don't worry, sir. It's just a little wound. But I gotta say that was really amazing. Now I know why you're never afraid of muggers when you go out at night." Warren said as she slowly got to his feet.

"Hey, just because I retired from kicking ass as a Bat Family member doesn't mean I forgot _how_ to kick ass." Lucas said with a grin. But immediately that grin dropped into a look of shock when a Batarang suddenly flew right between him and Warren and embedded itself into the wall. The men looked over and saw that Batman and Warhawk were still fighting intensely with Inque and it didn't seem like the fight was tipping in their favor.

"Well you better use that kick ass know how to help Warhawk and Batman." Warren said.

"Let me see. Inque's body seems to have a clay like consistency. And if that's true then we should be able to melt her down with water..." Lucas trailed off as his eyes looked around for a hose, but then they landed on something better. A canister of liquid nitrogen with a power nozzle. Then he grinned at the sight. "...or freeze her up."

"That'll work. I'll make a distraction." Warren said and hurriedly hobbled further towards where Inque, Batman and Warhawk were fighting then shouted at the bio-hybrid. "Hey, Inque! How do you manage to get a date, tempting guys on a diet by pretending to be black licorice because they're desperate for something sweet?"

"Grr...I'll tear you to shred for that, old man!" Inque growled as she dropped the two heroes she was holding up with her tendrils then hurled herself straight at Warren.

Once the bio-hybrid was close enough Warren ducked to the side and Lucas held up the nozzle straight at Inque. Before she could react in defense or move away the colored Alpha shot a heavy blast of liquid nitrogen. Inque screamed in agony as the chilling liquid spread over her entire body and a cloud of white smoke covered up most of the area. After ten seconds of spraying Lucas stopped and waved his hand to clear up the smoke. And once it was all clear he saw a frozen statue of Inque, who grumbled angrily from inside her frigid confinement.

"You think she'll be mad when she thaws out?" Warren asked as he slowly got up.

"Nope. In fact I think she'll be very appreciate. That woman needed to chill." Lucas said as he sat the half empty canister down.

"Thanks for the assist, Mr. Fox. And you too, Mr. McGinnis. We really appreciate it." Batman said as he walked over.

"No problem, Terr-...Oh! Sorry. I mean, all in a day's work to help a righteous crime fighter like you Batman." Warren said, quickly covering up his near slip.

"Ha, ha. No need to lay it on that thick, sir." Batman said with an amused grin.

"I got the hostages loose. Everyone is safe. Including Mary." Warhawk said, looking over to the group of FoxTeca employees.

"Oh Warren! Thank God you're alright!" Mary exclaimed happily and rushed to her husband and embraced him.

"Mary, I'm so sorry I lied to you before. I swear I was only trying to protect you and Matthew." Warren said as he hugged his wife with his good arm.

"I know, darling. I understand. Matt and I are just glad you're...Wait, where's Matthew?" Mary asked, looking among the group and realizing that her son wasn't with them.

"Warhawk, wasn't Matt with the group when you went to free everyone?" Batman asked with a panicked look.

"No. When I went to cut everyone loose Matt was already gone. I thought he wiggled free and went to hide somewhere." Warhawk said.

"Not quite the case, my flying friend." Said another voice and everyone looked up to see Derek Powers at the exit leading out of the underground warehouse. And he had a gun to Matt's head.

"Matthew!" Mary exclaimed in worried horror.

"Powers, you bastard! Let go of my son right now!" Warren ordered.

"Relax, old chum. I'll let the boy go. As soon as I have the word of your hero buddies saying that they won't attempt to follow me once my get away gets here." Derek said.

"Fine. We won't follow you. Now let go of the kid." Warhawk said.

"You know, I really do believe that you mean that...But then what's to stop you from tackling me as soon as I turn my back? Maybe I should give you something else to focus on to prevent that. Like a fatally wounded woman." Derek said as he aimed the gun at Mary.

"Don't you shoot at my mom!" Matt shouted and stomped hard on the white haired Alpha's foot.

"Ow!" Derek exclaimed painfully and let go of the little boy in favor of nursing his sore foot, which allowed Matt the chance to run towards the others. "Why you little bastard! You'll pay for that!"

At seeing Derek cock the gun and aim it at his half brother, Batman panicked and looked around for something to toss at him. He saw one of the canisters of nerve gas and in a moment of desperation decided to use that. With all of the strength he had Batman lifted the canister up and yelled at Derek.

"Hey Powers! You want to see how your gas works? Then see for yourself!" And with that Batman tossed the canister straight at Derek.

The businessman stopped short of shooting Matt when he saw the canister filled with his nerve gas hurtling towards him. Immediately Derek turned around and ran off, but it made no difference. The canister landed on the ground and cracked open which unleashed a thick green fog. And the deadly fog quickly caught up to Derek and consumed him. He screamed in pain as the gas penetrated every nerve his body had. He became so weak that he fell to his knees on the way up to the exit of the warehouse. Derek looked at his hands and saw dark red blotches form, and around him his impeccably styled white hair was falling off and began to rain down into his hands. Just then his get away car drove up and stopped right in front of him. A goon in the passenger seat opened the door and with what little strength he had Derek wobbled into the car. But just before he closed the door he looked over to Batman and the group with the most hateful stare he could muster.

"Don't think this is over, Batman! I will end you for this! And that goes for the rest of you! No one crosses Derek Powers and lives to tell about it!" Derek shouted and then slammed the passenger car door, and the car itself then drove away.

"Oh Matthew, are you alright?" Mary asked as she held her son.

"It's cool, mom. I'm okay. That loser was no match for me. Besides, Batman had my back so I knew I'd be alright!" Matt said, looking up at the Omega hero with a bright shine in his eyes. Batman smiled down tenderly at Matt and ruffled his hair.

"You got that right, kid. I always have my partner's back." Batman said.

"As much as I'd like to enjoy this sweet moment, we should all get out of here before the gas spreads." Warhawk spoke up.

"He's right. We can all leave through the elevator and I'll lock down the warehouse until toxic unit can clean things up. And of course, we'll get you a doctor Warren." Lucas said.

"Thanks. Because this little wound is starting to feel not so little anymore." Warren spoke with a weak grin and everyone headed for the elevator leading to the higher floors.

 _Neo Gotham, the next day 2:15PM. Wayne Manor..._

" **Although the World Trade Conference started a little late, it was none the less a successful event that brought together many businesses and independent entrepreneurs. And the highlight of the WTC was when the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne-Kent, officially announced himself as a public supporter of the CEO of FoxTeca Corporation one Lucas Fox. The two even announced plans for a special collaboration project that will bring an estimated $35.8 million credits in new jobs within the next two years. In addition to this Lucas has promoted his most trusted executive, Warren McGinnis, to vice president of his company."** Spoke the virtual anchorman on the large plasma TV as the TV footage from last night's World Trade Conference played out, showing clips of Bruce and Lucas shaking hands at the podium and Warren stepping up to stage and waving at everyone with his good arm while the other was in a sling.

"Now that's what I call a happy ending." Rex said with a smile as he leaned back into the couch.

"Yeah. Even though Lucas and Uncle Warren had to give up the evidence for their case against Powers, I'd say this is a pretty good consolation prize." Terry said as he petted Ace, who was sitting loyally at his side while he was in the chair.

"And the good news keeps on coming, little master." Spoke the voice of Justin as he walked in with Krypto, the former holding several envelopes while the latter had a newspaper in his mouth. "Among the many congratulatory letters folks sent to your father, Jimmy Olsen came personally to deliver an advanced copy of the news on Mr. Egans."

"Oh right, I almost forgot about him. Let's have a look." Terry said and took the paper from Krypto's mouth and petted the white Kryptonian Labrador's head while Rex came over to see as well. On the front page was a snapshot of Vilmos Egans getting dragged away by uniformed officers of the Kaznian government. Above the picture read _"Ex-Finance Minister Arrested at World Trace Conference for Supplying Chemical Weapons! Taken Back To Kaznia to Face Harsh Punishment!"_ by Clark Kent.

"Well even though we lost our shot at Powers, we win one by busting Egans. What kind of contacts does your old Man of Steel have that he was able to blow the whistle on a guy this powerful?" Rex asked.

"I'll tell you the same thing pops told me; you're too young to ask." Terry said with a grin.

"Well can I ask this; what was it that Warren asked you to do back in the Bat Cave?" Rex asked.

"Now that's an okay question. Matt is a big Batman fan and said it would be a dream come true if Gotham's protector would pick him up after school. So he asked me if I could pick up Matt tomorrow and I said I would." Terry said.

"Aww, ain't you the sweet big brother. Just the kind of nurturing personality an Alpha wants in his little Omega." Rex said as he wrapped an arm around Terry, only to have it grabbed and twisted behind his back. "Ow, ow, ow!"

"I'm not your little anything, turkey vulture. You may not have wings of your own but I can still make a nice roast out of you." Terry said with a dark expression on his and a grin to match.

"Ouch, okay! I take it back! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Rex exclaimed in pain, then paused when he looked up at the TV again. "Hey, stop. They're talking about Powers on the news now."

"What?" Terry asked in surprise and let go of Rex then went over to grab the remote control and turned up the volume to hear the virtual anchorwoman that was now speaking.

 **"In related news, CEO of Powers Industries Derek Powers was unable to attend the World Trade Conference. His spokesperson said that Mr. Powers has caught a fever and will not be able to attend any public functions for a while. The staff here at Gotham Channel 12 News hope that Mr. Powers makes a speedy recovery."** The virtual anchorwoman said.

"I guess that means Powers is alive and survived the exposure to the nerve gas." Rex said.

"Lucas did say he had a good chance of survival since his exposure was minor. But Harry didn't survive from the dozens of times he was exposed. I hope that bastard has to deal with some kind of permanent side-effect and suffer." Terry spoke angrily.

Little did Terry know, however, that Derek did indeed get a permanent side-effect. But it wasn't anything like organ failure or even osteoarthritis. It was something else. Something that could be used to make others suffer...

"And you say that the polymer solution can be used to create new skin and hair for me when I'm out and about?" Derek asked as he dressed behind a medical curtain.

"Yes, sir. It'll last for a good five months before you need to come in to be pressed for a new skin. Or if you burn through it sooner than that, we can also press you for a new skin." Replied the doctor the hazmat suit.

"Good. And you told me to stay away from water, yes?" Derek asked as he held out his hand to his secretary Eloise who gave him his brown suit jacket.

"That's right, Mr. Powers. Now that you're, well, the way you are the water could literally melt you down if exposed to massive bodies of it. It's a risk you have to avoid at all times." The doctor said.

"Thank you, doctor. That will be all for now." Derek said in a rarely calm voice.

"Yes Mr. Powers." The man said and started to turn around.

"Oh, and one more thing doctor." Derek said.

"Sir?" The man asked as he turned back around.

"Derek Powers...I don't want you or the staff to use that name when I'm like _this._ I have a different name in mind." Derek said.

"Oh...Okay. And what name would that be?" The doctor asked nervously. And then Derek Powers stepped out from behind the curtains, his body glowing a toxic shade of green while his skeleton showed. He wore only a pair of slacks, dress shoes and his brown suit jacket and the ends of the sleeves were burned and jagged.

"From now on...Call me Blight!" Derek, now Blight, spoke and gave a mad laugh that echoed throughout the lab.


End file.
